Philadelphia-area hardware store owners are loving the winter weather

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Bags of ice melt and rock salt are a hot commodity in this frigid weather, and they are proving to be big business for Stanley's True Value in Roxborough.

The store is going through about 200 bags per day.

"Picking up salt pretty much every day, whatever we can get our hands on is what we'll take. It's going out as soon as it's coming in," said the manager of Stanley's True Value, Alex Jaconski.

The store is trying hard to stock up on necessary items. You would think since we live in Philadelphia, people would already have shovels.

"It's amazing, every year you'd think people already would have it. Even up until the day where the snow is already happening, you think they would have one by now. People just don't have it," said Jaconski.

Bill Getzinger's family has owned Ace Hardware for three generations.

"Since 1932," he said.

Since it didn't snow much in the last three winters, he suspects his customers in Haddon Township, New Jersey may have misplaced their shovels.

"I don't know what they did with their snow shovels, and clearly they didn't either, so everybody needs shovels, everybody needs melter," said Getzinger.

Everybody except PennDOT. The agency in charge of keeping Pennsylvania's roads clear has a major stockpile.

"We still have more than 100,000 tons on hand and we've gone through more than 40,000 tons," said PennDOT representative, Chelsea Lacey-Mabe.

Another hot ticket item: sleds!

"We've been looking for a while, and Amazon is completely booked up. So, I'm here I am getting four-disc sleds, said Kristen D'Amico of Cherry Hill.

This has likely been the snowiest year of 3-year-old Emilie's young life and big sister Cora is showing her how it's done. Mom, Kristen D'Amico, is happy to oblige.

"We're going to do an outdoor, quarantine sled afternoon this weekend," said D'Amico.