EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Following recent snowfall, a Metro East salt supplier is experiencing a surge in demand.
“This last storm, we were up and operating with two or three hours of sleep over that 72-hour period,” Jack Anderson, owner of Salt Industries in East St. Louis, said.
During the recent snowstorm, they sold 350 pallets of salt, which amounts to about one million pounds—the most they’ve sold in the last five years.
Across the country, hardware stores have reported rapidly depleting stocks of essential ice melt, salt, and shovels.
Salt Industries is a bagged salt supplier that provides high-quality salts designed to swiftly melt ice and snow
“A lot of the retail locations were short. Home Depot, the box stores, the hardware stores. The demand was great, and a lot of the snow removal contractors were here to get their product at other locations that do the same thing potentially as distributors as we do,” Anderson added.
In addition, many workers across the country had challenges accessing road salt due to logistical issues.
The East St. Louis business said they were so busy during the recent storm that people from all over the country—including Kentucky, Tennessee, and more—visited to get their supplies.
“Oh, it was outrageous. People lined up on both sides of the streets. We had lines waiting for treated and regular white material. It was—it was outrageous,” Brandon Anderson said.