Preparing at home for the first snow of the year

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — When those first snow flurries fly, it’s time to think about preparing your house for winter.

Experts say it’s a good idea to take stock of your winter supplies before there’s a mad rush on the stores.

Outside Sullivan Hardware it’s clear that winter is knocking on our doors.

But inside, shoppers mostly focused on the fun winter items, like decorations and gifts.

A few people bought snow shovels.

“Early in the year especially before we get any snow you see some salt, some shovels, scrapers for your car stuff like that,” Manager Andrew Sullivan said.

But Sullivan said it might still be too early, even with light snow in the forecast.

“People are more reactive, it’s normally once we actually get snow that we really start to move those items,” he said.

He said because last winter was so mild there isn’t a concern about running out of supplies.

“We barely sold any salt last year so I know there are like four or five pallets down there that we just wrapped up from last year that are ready to go at any point,” he said.

That’s the same reason many people still have leftovers in their garages.

Shovels and salt are staple items, but Sullivan said there have been some advances in the technology in the last few years.

He said pay attention if you’ve added a pet to the family or invested in your concrete driveway.

“If you have a new driveway, you want something that’s more like eco-friendly, the same stuff that’s safer for pets is also better for your concrete driveways,” he said.