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lowes, home depot and others are already there with truckloads of supplies.
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this.
my parents, for ~35 years, owned a hardware store. first we were with True Value, and then later Ace. in the trade these are known as "co-ops".
after a hurricane or similar event, the co-op HQ would send out a nationwide electronic bulletin with the SKUs that they would "buy back" at cost.
they would even tell you how many of each item they believed were on your shelves.
there was minimal paperwork to put such material back onto the tractor trailer which was delivering your goods weekly.
generators, pumps, chainsaws, etc were all "recycled" this way -- taken off the floor in unaffected states and transported via the normal co-op distribution network to where needed in florida etc.
if True Value and Ace can do it with 4000 sq ft mom-and-pop stores, well HD and Lowes...
And then there is Amazon, Costco, Sams Club, etc etc etc -- all with multi-terabyte inventory databases and the ability to move a lot of stuff very quickly.
OP, that's who you are competing with.
ar-jedi