Retailers springing into action

Believe it or not, there may be an upside to the harsh winter that battered Long Island, particularly for those in the home improvement and gardening business.

The extended periods of cold temperatures, the weight of all that snow and ice, and all those salt, sand and ice-melting chemicals likely have caused damage to gardens, decks and lawns. And the tenacity of this past winter simply has made Long Islanders impatient for some color and renewal, local industry experts said. Those factors are already starting to bring in customer traffic and fuel their spring business, they said.

"After a winter like that, the biggest thing is the influx of color," said Doug Akerley, vice president of operations for Hicks Nurseries. "People have really had it with being stuck in a cave for the winter."

Spring temperatures have come late this year, but many gardening and home improvement retailers already have launched their spring sales events or are planning to do so this weekend. The Home Depot is advertising its second annual spring Black Friday event. Hicks Nurseries Inc. in Westbury also is planning to run sales of as much as 40 percent off on certain items. About 22 Ace Hardware stores are running their Dirt Cheap events.

This "was a horrific winter, so now we're seeing landscaping and a lot of folks [who] have bushes destroyed by the weight of snow and ice as well as gutters, roofing," said Jim Kane, The Home Depot's northern division president.

Sales of lawn-repair items, including organic and natural products, have increased significantly in the last few years, these businesses said. Michael Costello, co-owner of the family-run chain Costello's Ace Hardware, noted that lawn-care programs requiring many applications throughout the season are selling well, indicating consumers' commitment to their lawns.

Seeds and starter plants for vegetable gardens are popular as well.

"I think it's going to be a great year for vegetable gardens," said Donna Moramarco, education director at Martin Viette Nurseries in East Norwich. "They [customers] don't want the use of pesticides and they want the freshness of being able to grow their own tomatoes that didn't come from a thousand miles away."

Sale of other items related to home beautification projects like paint, deck stain and outdoor furniture are picking up too, retailers said. Cushions, apparently, are now the rage.

"People are refurbishing cushions," said Dorothy Simons, president of retail sales at Dodds and Eder, an Oyster Bay gardening and outdoor furniture store. "People are anticipating Easter and Passover outside, so there's a rush to get things before the holidays."

Sherida Cowans, 29, a social studies teacher from Uniondale, had a cart full of flowers at Hicks Thursday. She's already three weeks into her gardening and home improvement shopping.

"I want it to be my own personal oasis when I come home from work," she said.