Hoboken retailer talks storm preparedness

As Winter Storm Juno barrels toward the Northeastern U.S., retailers throughout the region are bringing out the salt and taking all the usual storm preparation methods.

In Hoboken, New Jersey, Ace retailer Ernie Reyes is looking forward to the increased sales winter storms tend to bring to City Paint & Ace Hardware, but he also knows first-hand the importance of storm preparedness -- Hoboken was, as he says, "ground zero" during Hurricane Sandy.

"Ace is always very well-prepared for every storm, for every emergency that we’ve had," said Reyes. "Even during Hurricane Sandy, we opened up the next day. Tomorrow we’ll be here -- it might take a while to get here, but we’ll be there."

The secret to being able to open with confidence during a major winter storm: salt. And lots of it.

Reyes says he bought at least 27 skids of salt during the Ace Convention: "for an inner city store, that's a lot," he pointed out.

Additionally, the Ace warehouse is reliably stocked with salt, and Reyes credits the co-op with its tendency to reliably bring extra salt ahead of any impending storms.

"Thinking ahead is the hard thing to do – you can always have too much, but it’s better to have too much than too little," he said.