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LOGAN — Cancelled vacations and more time at home have led to the high demand for “fun” items — like trampolines and bicycles — to the point that some have been sold out.
Nearly everything attached to outdoor fun has sold fast.
Kayaks, tents and even basketball hoops and skateboards have been in high demand, but there seemed to be an even tighter focus on buying mountain bikes and trampolines.
Stores employees have worked hard to keep up, and in some cases, customers have had to wait for them to restock.
There may be a new premium on finding ways to keep your family entertained. It might explain why more parents are trying to take the leap.
The general manager of Al’s Sporting Goods in Logan, John Michaelson, said they have had a hard time keeping items on the shelves.
“Trampolines, lawn games, any kind of that little activities you can do at home, but especially trampolines,” he said. “We get them in, they disappear. We have a waiting list, they come in again. We pre-sell them. We’re getting them as fast as we can.”
People looking for those items may want to get on one of those lists.
One supplier told KSL the outbreak in China already led to a shortage in supply, just as demand was shooting up in the United States.
Bikes have been hard to keep up with as well.
“It’s been an unbelievable, unprecedented bike year for us,” said Al’s Sporting Goods president Jason Larsen. “I mean, we’ve never seen anything like it.”
Larsen said luckily, they prepare ahead of the busier summer months.
“We will typically stock about 1,500 bikes in our warehouse, and try to sell them over the course of the summer, or over a few-month period,” he said.
He said they’ve already sold in a month what they normally sell over three months.
They’ve hired extra staff to help build and repair bikes. Even with the extra help, the wait for a tune-up right now is about three weeks.
“We’ve got boxed bikes,” said Larsen. “We’re building them about as fast as we can sell them.”
At least at Al’s, they’ve been working to build them out, and keep up with the sales floor.
They said this was one of those times when if customers don’t see the bike they’re looking for, it doesn’t hurt to see if they have it in the back.
