LYCOMING COUNTY, Pa. — With warm weather and summer quickly approaching, more and more people will most likely start taking part in outdoor activities. Hall's Marine in Lycoming County has certainly been busy trying to keep up with the demand for boats.
"We've seen the rush. It has been going on pretty much since the start of COVID. People haven't been able to go on vacation, so they are coming out and buying boats and looking for something to do to get out of the house," said Randy Hall of Hall's Marine.
The pandemic has also affected bike shops. The Bicycle Center in South Williamsport has far fewer bikes in its inventory than it normally does.
"In a normal year, we would have anywhere from 85 to 100 bikes in stock, and this year, we have roughly 15 to 18 bikes in stock," said Bicycle Center employee Matt Herr.
Both shops are currently experiencing a shortage of stock. Since the pandemic started, manufacturers have had a tough time keeping up with the demand for both bikes and boats.
"We've been getting them in; they are trickling in very slowly. We got 17 bikes in three weeks ago, and we have received one bike in since then," said Herr.
"We're at about 20 boats right now, and we usually have somewhere in the 50 to 60 range. As far as selling boats, we are probably sending out about 14 or 12 boats a week," said Hall.
Both Hall's Marine and the Bicycle Center tell Newswatch 16 that both stores have been extremely busy with repairs since the beginning of the pandemic.
"It has blown up as well. I think we are about three weeks out behind in the service department right now. It has been that way for the past month, which is unheard of," said Hall.
"We just knocked out a bunch of repairs and probably have another 15 or 20 repairs, so it is about a two-week wait time," said Herr.
Employees at both shops told Newswatch 16 that they are unsure what their inventory will look like once summer does finally roll around.