Big sellers on Sandy-stricken coast: Chainsaws, buckets, flashlights
BAY SHORE, N.Y. -- The “W” in the 10-foot-tall sign on the building has burned out, but inside the cavernous Lowe’s hardware store here, a massive generator keeps the aisles lit brighter than daylight.
The parking lot is full as customers from the hard-hit shores of Long Island to the north and south come to buy tools and materials to patch roofs, drain waterlogged basements and find ways to banish the dark.
The store has sold its full inventory of some 700 generators in the last two days and managers are hoping another shipment will come in soon.
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“People are getting creative,” said assistant store manager Al DeLuca.
Customers are buying solar landscaping lights, firewood, glow sticks and battery-powered “hockey puck” LED lights that tape to the wall.
Other big sellers, he said, are chainsaws for clearing downed trees, buckets, bleach and plastic sheeting.
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brian.bennett@latimes.com
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