Some people plan ahead, and a few people plan way ahead. For example, they go shopping for a snowblower in August, months before snow even thinks about forming. Most regular people don’t have this level of foresight, though, which is why there aren’t any snowblowers left in stores after a massive storm hits your region.

Sure, that seems pretty obvious from the outside, but that’s no help when you’ve got a drifted-in driveway and your local Home Depot says that they’re out of stock. Fortunately, there are always other options.

Our bundled-up colleagues over at Consumer Reports called around the snow-encrusted New York City suburbs to find out who still had snowblowers in stock. Inventory was running low at big-box stores and at Sears, but one category of store that most shoppers might not think of still had plenty of machines. Going directly to the dealers for outdoor-equipment manufacturers like Toro and MTD was fruitful, since dealers supply retail stores and sell directly to consumers. Local dealers had a variety of models in stock and ready to blow through your snow.

Buy a snow blower now before they sell out [Consumer Reports]

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