It has been one month since the opening of the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo in New Orleans, but it feels much longer than that – as it must for all those reading this.

May is National Barbecue Month. For years, HPBA has used this month to encourage everyone to get outside and start grilling. This year, of course, things are different.

In early April Hearth & Home faxed a survey to 2,500 specialty retailers of hearth, patio, and barbecue products, asking them to compare March 2020 sales to March 2019. The accompanying charts and selected comments are from the 220 useable returns.

“Ah, shucks! Another day confined to my home in Phoenix, Arizona. Temperature is a comfortable 83 degrees this first week of April.”