For some businesses, snow means dough

You'll hear zero complaints about the snow from Brandy Ream.

"I am stoked, heavens, yes," said Ream, director of the Spirit Mountain ski area in Duluth. "In our book, this is fantastic."

Workers cranked up the snow-making machines Sunday night. Now, with snow on the ground and more in the forecast, it's possible Spirit Mountain, which employs 200 people in the depths of winter, could open this weekend, two weeks earlier than usual.

Not everyone is saddened by an early November snowstorm. Businesses across the state — snowmobile dealers, ski shops, hardware stores, bars, bowling alleys and even towing and auto body shops — are rubbing their hands with glee as up to a foot of snow blanketed parts of the state Monday, jump-starting Minnesota's winter economy.

Kevin Gans, manager at Pro Cycle and Snowmobile just east of St. Cloud, sold three plow blades for ATVs on Monday morning. He said interest in snowmobiles is suddenly much higher than it was on Friday.

"I did sell one machine this morning, and I've got a couple others on the ropes," Gans said. "And the parts and stuff have been flying off the shelf today."

The snowmobile trails won't open until Dec. 1, he said, but people will run them in ditches until then. Meanwhile, he's scrambling to figure out how to stock the dealership, trying to balance customer demand with the need to not stock too much inventory.

Early snowfall can be the deciding factor for someone who entered the fall thinking they'd keep their old snowblower for the winter, said Jeff McGill, a regional sales manager at Northern Tool and Equipment.

McGill's snowblower wouldn't start on Sunday night. He quickly decided he didn't want to fight to get it repaired and bought a new one.

"What snow does is it kind of sets winter in on people, so all our winter-related products perk up," he said. "Salt, sand, shovels, scrapers, plow carts, that stuff all just rockets."

Sales of winter apparel, heaters and generators have also started to grow, McGill said. Some of those purchases would have happened later in the winter anyway, but earlier is better for Northern Tool, which has six locations in the Twin Cities.

"We make more money on those early sales because we're not doing any discounting on seasonal product," McGill said.

The industries most heavily affected by the season are construction and leisure and hospitality. Both industries shed thousands of jobs in the winter.

Construction employs 33,000 fewer people in a typical February than in a typical July. Leisure and hospitality, which includes resorts and ski lodges, employs 42,000 fewer in a typical February than in a typical July, according to data analyzed by Steve Hine, the state labor market economist.

That's because winter sports, despite their prominence in the state, don't make up for all the work in summer recreation.

"Skiing just doesn't replace golfing when it comes to jobs," Hine said.

No matter how early it snows and how long the winter, the overall effect on the economy is neither good nor bad, said Tom Stinson, an economist at the University of Minnesota.

But for several types of winter businesses, the earlier it snows the more they sell.

Business at Jack's Auto Service in Grand Rapids is usually slow until the snow and cold set in. Then tuneups, snow tires and towing jobs rev business back up.

"We've had quite a few calls today from people wanting to know pricing on snow tires, and we've ordered a couple sets," said Michael Thompson, a manager at Jack's. "Typically, November is not a terribly busy time, but if winter comes early we get busier sooner."

Slick roads in Duluth kept customers away from the Ski Hut on Monday morning, but manager Chris White said customers should start rolling in this week.

"When you look out your back window and you see snow, it gets you excited," he said.

"If it stays, it just means it's going to get the season going," he said. "If it stays, it'll be wonderful."

Some indoor businesses pick up with an early winter too. Take bowling alleys, for instance.

"I work in a bowling alley. I don't like bowling when it's 80 degrees," said Josh George, a manager at Town Hall Lanes in Minneapolis. "As soon as we started hitting those 40-degree days, people started coming in to bowl, and that's what drives our restaurant."

The first few weeks of winter are usually slow for bars because people don't want to go out — at first, said Al Fashbaugh, a bartender at the CC Club on Lyndale Avenue S. in Minneapolis.

"The slowest season in a bar isn't a season, it's the time between seasons," Fashbaugh said. "Once people have gotten used to the winter, they want to go out to the bar again. The sooner this happens, the sooner we can settle into the winter drinking season."

"We just noticed a dramatic change from vodka and gin to whiskey," he said. "The beers get heavier. People aren't drinking as much PBR."

Adam Belz • 612-673-4405 Twitter: @adambelz