The demand for air conditioners in the Fraser Valley has kept pace with the historic heat wave.
Portable a/c units, oscillating fans and more became the hot ticket items, as meterologists predicted this rise in temperature for well over a week prior. At the Rona in Hope, they burned through 12 pallets of just air conditioners, and six pallets of fans. They were all gone before the hottest days of the heat wave.
Store manager Luke Adrian said that they’ve already sold more than they did all of last year, and that they had pre-planned for the heat wave and were overstocked to start with.
And the story is the same all across the Fraser Valley, he said. They are “standing in line” alongside other distributors and awaiting the next shipments. But he assures, more units are coming.
For many summer sun solutions, Rona is the only place Hope residents can buy locally. They stock the store for the community’s needs, as best as they can predict. But in extreme cases (including salt in very snowy winters, or the infamous toilet paper shortage of 2020) then people are happy to travel from other communities out to Hope.
Last week there were people coming to Hope from Chilliwack and even as far away as Surrey.
“People have gotten wise to it,” Adrian said.
Some of the other items that have been in high demand are kiddie pools and all sorts of summer umbrellas. All are currently sold out, as well. But not to worry, Adrian said, they are expecting a delivery of more items later this week.
“We are in the same boat as everyone else,” he said.
Then there are those who are taking advantage of the high demand. Several posts on marketplace are advertising brand new air conditioners for well over retail. Adrian said he has also seen this, and while his most expensive unit is in the $600 range, some are selling online for close to $1,000.
“It was like that with the toilet paper, too,” he said.
READ MORE: Head to the Rec Centre to beat the midday heat
@CHWKcommunity
jessica.peters@hopestandard.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.