Thanks to Heavy Snowfall, Toro Produces Second Run of Snowblowers

One person's seasonal bummer is another's economic opportunity.

Bloomington, Minn., based Toro is a case in point. Residents of America's snow-belt are struggling to cope with a deluge of snow, the maker of landscape and snow removal equipment has more market demand than it can deal with.

"We had alot of really good snow last year, which created alot of demand for this year to begin with, and then we had snow at the perfect time, November and December, when demand is there as well," explained Christine Cheng, Toro Snow Products marketing director.

Booming sales at dealers like Beisswenger's 'Do it best' Hardware in New Brighton, Minn., convinced Toro to produce a second run of snowblowers, something they don't do often. On Monday, the company began manufacturing six of its most popular single stage models. They will run the snowblower line for about 3 weeks, before resuming production of lawn equipment.

"We need to reorder if they have the product," said Al Morelli, who manages Beisswenger's snowblower inventory. The family hardware store has sold about 500 machines this year, a good year that could become great with another large snow event or two. "If we get another snow storm, we could sell out. In fact, we 'are' out of a lot of models. So are the manufacturers."