It’s nice that more people are buying locally.”

Tootie Roy

REGIONAL—If you had plans for the weekend, they’re probably canceled. And that’s probably true for next weekend and most likely the weekend after that. Yet many North Country residents aren’t taking the current stay-at-home order lying down.
“They’re painting,” said Dan Julkowski, owner-operator of Northwoods True Value stores in Cook and Tower. While many businesses are suffering as a result of the closures and social distancing requirements of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, area lumberyards and hardware stores are busier than usual as folks stuck at home are turning their attention to home fix-up.
“It’s just little things,” said Tootie Roy, at Vermilion Golden Rule Lumber in Tower. “We didn’t really know what to expect, but we’ve been busier than usual for April. Mostly, it’s paint and materials for little projects around the house.”
Julkowski said he’s seeing a noticeable jump in sales at both his Cook and Tower stores, much of it from higher paint sales. He speculates that as people are stuck at home they have more time to look at that faded or peeling paint in the bathroom, the kitchen, or the bedroom. “I think it’s mostly things people have been sitting on for a long time,” said Julkowski.
And it isn’t just paint. “We’re definitely seeing people doing more home projects,” said CJ Roesch, sales manager at Cook Building Center. “Sheetrock is flying out of here right now, along with a lot of tongue-in-groove paneling.”
The spike in home fix-up is also being fueled, said Roesch, by the earlier return of many seasonal residents, who have decided to come north ahead of schedule to escape the higher risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus in more populated areas. “The Minneapolis crowd is coming this way already,” said Roesch. “That’s about a month early.”
Local hardware stores and lumberyards may also be benefitting from the reluctance of many shoppers in the area to drive and shop at big box retailers in regional hubs, like Virginia, where the risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus is presumably greater.
“It’s nice that more people are buying locally,” said Roy. “It seems they don’t want to make the trip to Virginia.”
While the risks associated with shopping in small towns are seemingly less, some folks are showing more concern than others. “We have had a few people who’ve wanted to pick up their supplies on the sidewalk, rather than coming inside,” said Roy. That’s a service that small town merchants will generally deliver with a smile. “We’re still open. That’s what makes it nice,” said Roy.