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18 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017 BUSINESS WATERLOO CHRONICLEWATERLOO CHRONICLE By Bob Vrbanac Chronicle Sta� It's not the King Street construc-tion that has O.W. Sports count-ing down the days until the store will close at the end of March. It's the lack of snow that has hurt the winter specialty store that has been a part of the uptown core for the last 48 years. With inventory piling up and sales being impacted by up to 30 per cent over the last three years because of a shorter winter season, the trend was heading in the wrong direction. A casualty of climate change? O w n e r s C o l i n and Kris Deyar- mond aren't dis- puting that as they watch the w i n t e r s p o r t s season shrink from fi ve months to two, and this past Feb. 23 was reported as the area's warmest day on record at 16 degrees. "My neigh- bours tulips start- ed coming up last week in Febru- ary," said Kris. "Th at's crazy." In the past there would be a couple of feet of snow on the ground and long lineups at nearby Chicopee Ski Club. "Chicopee used to be a six-month operation once. Now they're lucky to get three," said Kris. "Last year was two," said Colin. "Growing up, going to Chicopee it would be 20 minutes before you could get a run in, now you can ski everyday and get right on the chair." Th e warmer weather means chas- ing the snow by driving up north to places like Blue Mountain in Collin- gwood, but the motivation is lacking when people don't see the white stuff locally. "Collingwood right now has great snow but you don't think of it," said Colin. "You see the grass is green and no snow anywhere in Kitchener- Waterloo, you think there's no snow there either." And with the store going all in on the snow culture it left them in weather limbo. "We started out as an army sur- plus store when we started, but we're pretty much all ski and snow board now," said Kris. "We picked the wrong one with the weather," said Colin, as the staff - ing levels peaked at the store at 25 employees a few years ago but is now down to 10 theses days. "It's expensive to outfi t the whole family when the weather is so iff y. It can be a hard cost to justify." But as fickle as the weather has been, changing tastes and the Inter- net have contributed to some of that decline too. Th ey buy stock months in advance to start a season only to see some new trends pop up on YouTube. That was hard to keep up with on a week-to- week basis. "Times are changing and there's more to do and there's less focus on this kind of (tra- ditional) stuff," said Kris. O.W. Sports was the store for the latest in products and t r e n d s , a n d people would come from all over to visit. It was part of the resurgence o f u p t o w n Waterloo as a destination shopping spot, and their dad Wayne, who started the store with his wife Jayne in 1969, was a big supporter of the business improvement area. "He came up with uptown Water- loo," said Kris, about his dad who was once president of the UpTown Waterloo BIA. "He's still pretty proud of that." Since the news broke, old clients and familiar faces have been stop- ping by and sharing memories. Th ey tell the Deyarmonds they were the go to guys for their sporting good needs. "Th at's what everybody is saying -- where do we go now?" said Colin. "When people come in they come in for a reason because of our expertise and because of the knowledge. "All the staff here were skiers or snowboarders, and it's tough to fi nd that. People say they've got their skis tuned at other places but nothing compares to ours, and what do they do now?" The brothers were snow culture keepers and were a focal point of that community. "I remember working sidewalk sales here when I was six," said Colin, 37. "I don't know how to do much else." Kris said he's reconnected with people who bought their first pair of skis at the store and now bring in their kids or their grandkids. "They came here in the 1970s and are still shopping here," he said. "We've seen customers, their kids and their kid's kids coming through here. "We also have second generation staff who worked here through uni- versity and now their sons are work- ing here as well." But all good things must come to an end and the property at 62 King St. S., is offi cially on the market with March 31 listed as the fi nal day of the store. In the meantime, there is still ski and snowboard stuff to move at discounts of 30 to 70 per cent off. They're hoping a few more faces drop by in the next month. After the store closes, Colin is pre- paring for the birth of his fi rst child in May while Kris, 40, is getting into real estate development. The one thing they both say will be strange this year is a Christ- mas that isn't all about unpack- ing boxes, and working seven days a week during the busiest retail peri- od. Kris said he doesn't remember a Christmas that wasn't spent at the store. "It will be nice to have our first family Christmas," he admitted. For more about O.W. Sports and their fi nal days, visit owsports.ca or call 519-886-2840. Still dreaming of a white Christmas O.W. Sports to close its doors at the end of March as climate change impacts local business Colin and Kris Deyarmond, owners of O.W. Sports at 64 King St. S., will be closing the store for good at the end of March at 48 years in business. Changing weather patterns and tastes have led to the decline of the snowboard and ski out� tters that has been an institution in the city's uptown. BOB VRBANAC PHOTO "� at's what everybody is saying -- where do we go now? When people come in, they come in for a reason because of the expertise and because of the knowledge." Colin Deyardmond, Co-owner, O.W. Sports