When the Calgary area saw the first signs of snow, a Kal Tire in the city’s northeast also saw a flurry of phone calls.
Manager Don Huber said that following the Thanksgiving long weekend, the shop has been busy non-stop.
“With the forecast of snow and the bit of flurries yesterday, business has really picked up.”
Huber advised Calgarians that they should be getting their vehicles in sooner than later. Unlike years past, all appointments need to be booked over the phone, in advance.
“We have to limit the amount of people allowed in our showrooms,” he explained.
“The guys working in the back wear masks, they have to maintain that social distancing as much as possible.”
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The shop doesn’t really know what to expect this season. They have thousands of tires ready to be traded out just in case.
Huber said that in many cases they found that drivers simply never took off their winter tires last year because as soon as the pandemic hit, people stayed home.
“We noticed people just didn’t put their summer tires on because they didn’t drive anywhere.”
The tire shop has reopened most of its bays, but employees wear masks and physically distance.
The showroom is also operating at limited capacity and when the shop is busy, customers are asked to wait in their vehicle until their appointment so that the showroom seats can be sanitized.
