Let it snow

A mild winter season means a drop in profits for many winter-based local businesses.

According to Environment Canada, Thunder Bay traditionally receives a snowfall of 188 centimetres, but this year has only seen a total of 51.4 centimetres.

Ian Parker, owner of Chainsaw Centre, said the lack of snow on the ground means he won’t be selling as many snowblowers, which could become a loss of about $50,000 by the end of the season.

"Sales have been next to nothing," Parker said. "This is probably the slowest winter we had in the last 10 years."

Parker said he had a good season last year and sold more than 30 snow blowers. He said he purchases new units every year to make sure he keeps up with customer demand. He added selling and repairing snow blowers doesn’t bring in that much money but helped to break even last year.

DigiTelWeb's Snowploughing received fewer calls this season compared to last year. Bob Chomycz, president of DigiTelWeb, said the snowplough has been out for only two days this year, making it the worst season the company has ever faced.

"This is definitely not a good year for snowploughing," Chomycz said.

Chomycz said the plough takes about an hour to do a driveway but the company is focusing more on commercial areas than residential. He added his main business is in engineering telecommunications.

However, not all businesses are writing this winter off completely. Randy Neufeld, general manager of North Country Cycle and Sports, said it was an alright season despite not selling as many snowmobiles as last year.

He said he orders about 70 units per year and considers it a good year if he can sell 50 of those units.

"We’re plugging away," Neufeld said. "Everyone knows there isn’t a lot of snow in town but if you go out of town there is a (bit more) snow. I’ve talked to a lot of people who have put on a lot of miles this year."