Hardware Stores Hustle During Ice

Chainsaws, generators and kerosene were the most sought products in Northwest Arkansas the week of Jan. 26, providing a boon to some otherwise suffering retailers.

Chuck King, manager of the Hardware Store in Fayetteville, said he’d done almost “a half year’s worth” of business in one week.

Matt Layman, owner of Layman General Hardware in Springdale, said he had seven people working on Feb. 3, where he’d usually just have “three or four.”

Layman said his company did as much business the last week of January as it had done for the first three combined.

Both King and Layman reported few problems getting inventory shipped in from suppliers, mostly relying on United Postal Service and FedEx.

William Messersmith, administrative manager for the Lowe’s store on 6th Street in Fayetteville, said the company operates a command center in the Carolinas and that getting needed products was no problem.

“We sent trucks over to Oklahoma,” he said.

Out of the icy mess, Layman, who has a large commercial following, realized a new niche for his business. He ordered chainsaw chain in bulk 100-foot rolls so his repairmen could custom cut replacement chain.

He said he’d been thinking about doing it, but when the ice hit, he decided it would be a good move.