Our Culture is Broken
So I'm going winter camping in two weeks, and I realized that I might want to get a pair of REAL winter boots for the occasion. All I have right now is a pair of hiking shoes (not waterproof) and a pair of combat boots (the steel toes don't take well to cold temperatures). So, I started looking for winter boots... in early February... in Canada. Do you know what I found? Flip flops, sandals and deck shoes. I was told that no one buys winter boots in February and that by (get this) late December, stores stop accepting winter stock. So I'm going to have trouble buying winter boots anytime after the halfway mark in a Canadian winter.
I can understand that people don't buy winter gear in spring or summer, so stores don't want that stock sitting around, but just like fashions, aren't these stock dates just going to get earlier and earlier? Look at The Gap. They start selling stuff two seasons ahead of time, so you can buy all your summer clothes in late November. Are we going to be forced to buy all our gloves, ski jackets and boots in October to make room for the swimsuit buying season in December?
In the meantime, I'm hitting up army surplus.. we'll see if I can't find something cheap and upgrade next summer.