By Jeff Labine

Weather hurting snowmobile sales

Jan 18, 2017 | 1:00 PM

Lack of snow and warmer temperatures are hurting at least one local outdoor sporting business’ bottom line.

The city has been dipping into temperatures above 0 Celsius this week with Environment Canada forecasting a high of 4C on Tuesday and a low of -5C. The rest of the week is expected to remain in that range with temperatures starting to drop around Sunday.

While many might have welcomed the spring-like weather, Dean Lato, the owner and general manager of Pines Power Sports and Marine, said the melting snow hasn’t helped move snowmobiles. The local dealership, which also has stores in Melfort and Nipawin, was first purchased by Lato back in 2011 but over the years, he said snowmobile sales have started to slow down.

Because of the lag, Lato said the company had to lay off its staffing compliment by 20 to 30 per cent. While the business does sell other vehicles, the snowmobile remained on top in terms of volume sold.

He believes the main causes were the downturn in the economy as well as the change in weather.

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“The early burst [of snow] was nice but it was very short-lived. Sales have been very slow for the past two or three years when it comes to Ski-Doos,” Lato said. “Ski-Doos were giant before that when we had some very good snowfalls but without snow and without the weather to go along with it, it is very difficult to sell Ski-Doos. No question.”

Snowmobiling hasn’t been the only winter activities impacted by the weather. Lato mentioned that a fishing rally was cancelled for the first time ever. He added there are concerns around an upcoming provincial snowmobile festival next month and if there will enough snow for participants.

Lato said hundreds travel to the area to take part in snowmobile activities and unless things change, the situation doesn’t look too positive. However, he didn’t believe that would tarnish the area’s reputation for providing some of the best trails for riding.

“Between Rally Motorsports and Pines Power Sports Marine there’s an extensive amount of sleds that are sold here,” he said. “A greater number for a city this size. No question. We do service the North and we are on the forest edge, which is some of the best riding in the province. By default we are the best riding area.”

Lato added that there are some incentives from manufactures that are what he described as pretty good for those looking to buy a snowmobile. He mentioned they are selling snowmobiles to other parts of the country that have more snow.

Jeff Labine is paNOW’s health and education reporter. He can be reached at Jeff.Labine@jpbg.ca or tweet him @labinereporter.