(NBC 26) -- Are you looking for something to do while stuck at home? As the weather warms up, chances are you've got spring cleaning and repairs on the brain.
"'Gotta stay busy. Being in the house is not for me. Gotta do things,'" are the kinds of motivational thoughts that Dale Lindner, owner of Lindner Ace Hardware is hearing from customers. "'There's a lot of things I can do to catch up in the house. I gotta stay active.'"
Lindner owns three stores in Green Bay, Little Chute and Manitowoc. He noticed an increased amount of shoppers are coming in to their essential stores looking for a project that will make them feel productive while cooped up for and endless amount of time.
"A lot of painting, a lot of interior home repair," Lindner said. "And that kind of transitioning in to the springtime where there's always things that develop over the winter, from leaky valves to equipment and things like that that need to get ready to do the outdoor work, and just the need to get outside and do something."
While Lindner and his wife knew that they would be staying open as an essential businesses, they didn't expect to be this frequented. They've been able to hold on to all of their staff that wanted to continue working during this time.
"We weren't really expecting any real volume of business, but we were surprised once the stay in place orders came down, people at home decided they were gonna do things that were, described to me by some of our customers, that were good for their mental health," Lindner said. "To keep having things to do, to not dwell on the situation. And we're getting in to the time of year where people normally do their projects anyhow."
Larger national chains have also seen a spike in business as it relates to isolation activities. According to a company spokesperson, Lowe's have noticed an uptick in planting seeds for yard gardens as a "emerging activity," along with purchasing essential goods like freezers and generators.
Last month, Best Buy saw more than a week's worth of sales increased by 25% as many Americans rushed to shop for home office construction as isolation forced the workforce to adapt at home.
From Target's latest public financial update, the company noticed growth in the "high teens in Home, while declining more than 40 percent in Apparel & Accessories."
