Positive News 5th February 2009
This article from the Ilkley Gazette made us smile.
Blizzards and heavy snowfall may have caused chaos for schools, parents and commuters this week but for Ilkley hardware store RW Morten business was positively booming.
The famous Yorkshire shop was inundated with requests for sledges over the past week, selling more than 300 within a couple of days.
Such was the demand for the plastic sleighs, which were selling for £8.99, that the store sold out by Tuesday morning as schoolchildren reaped the benefits of a day off school and headed to the snow-covered moors.
With more snow forecast for today, store manager Stephen Senior is now left with the task of tracking down more sledges, which he says, are impossible to get from suppliers.
He told the Ilkley Gazette: “There are no sledges anywhere. I have tried to get more from suppliers but have been told there are none left in the whole of the UK. I will do my best to get them in as soon as I can but at the moment I have none left.”
The rush began on Monday after blizzards drifting in from Siberia left the area whitewashed.
Mr Senior said: “It’s ironic. We have actually had 250 sledges sitting in the basement for about three years but we have never had any snow so they have just lain there. I was beginning to wonder if they would ever sell.
“The minute the snow started to fall on Monday customers started coming in and asking for them and we quickly realised we would need more supplies.
Mr Senior has also sold a large bulk of snow pushers and about 50 bags of rock salt since the whiteout began.
The only tax link we could think of was that's a VAT bill of £404.55 on the sledges!
