Another Bad Winter Could Be Good News for AGRR Businesses

In terms of temperatures and snowfall, last winter was one for the record books for many parts of the country. This winter has the potential to be just as cold and snowy. “I certainly hope it’s another bad winter,” says David Coyne of Anytime Auto Glass in Boston.

“I’ve got a new a van that’s more reliable. And during the slow times I worked on establishing relationships with the companies we got business from during last year’s storms. We also have more stock on hand and worked out better pricing agreements with our suppliers. We have more of the most popular products in stock and we’ve cut our costs and overhead in anticipation of this year’s winter,” Coyne says.

“We usually do not take vacation time from December through April. We just couldn’t get time off (in my experience at prior companies) … it was too busy. If you get a chip during the winter it can easily freeze and expand out,” he adds.

Yancey Duncan of Sunshine Windshield Repair in Atlanta, Ga., is also expecting a harsh winter.

“I just dress up warmly, go out there and hit the road,” he says. “I’m just a one-man show and as long as my car is prepared and I’m warm, I’m good to go. I need to be able to warm up the glass of the car I’m working on from the inside, too. I need to keep the glass warm to work.”

Duncan remembers vividly when Atlanta was pummeled with ice in January. The traffic came to a standstill and many of the roads turned into parking lots.

“I was stuck at home for about four days,” he says. “My neighborhood has some bad hills in it. I was at the mercy of the weather until the sun came out.”

Business usually slows down in December until late January in Atlanta, Duncan notes.

“My dealership business slows down but my fleet business stays a bit steadier,” he points out.

And then there are places like Southern California, where the snow and cold are quite rare. Ron Gilbert of Ace Auto Glass in Palm Desert, Calif., says he is still wearing shorts and probably will continue to do so through December.

“We just don’t get much snow or bad weather here,” he says. “We do get some seasonal weather and we see a lot of snow birds. The winter months are usually a good part of the year for us. My business is fairly steady throughout the year. The surrounding mountains get snow, but not us.”

Are you expecting bad winter weather for your area? If so, how are you preparing your business? Share your thoughts by emailing jreed@glass.com or visit the glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR™ forum here.