“It hurts everyone all around,” said Tyler McCleary, director of operations at Tano Bistro. For restaurants, it’s already a slow time after Christmas and New Year’s, but it’s harder on his staff, who are tip-based and hourly-based employees.
“They go without, and right after the holidays, everybody’s a little broke in January,” he said. “It’s already a little scary because people are already spending less to come in, but when you got the snow on top of it, who wants to come out in this stuff?”
Business for many small businesses picks up as Valentine’s Day approaches mid-February, which is expected to be “huge” for bars and restaurants since it’s on a Friday this year, McCleary said.
Wildfire Hygge Goods owner Sarah Dankhoff said they were lucky when the snow hit, though they lost a day of in-store sales this past Sunday.
“It’s our slow season right now, so we were already going to be closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays,” she said. But small business owners understand schools aren’t the only organizations that would have snow days. “It just kind of comes with this season. We expect to get some closures for snow.”
Given the amount of snow that fell in the region — ranging from 9 to 12 inches in various parts of southwest Ohio — roads were cleared as quick as possible and customers could shop in-store on Thursday and deliveries could be made.
“I can’t ask for anything better, given the amount of snow that hit us,” she said.
More than half her business, though, is done online, a model for Wildfire that’s evolving.
“It’s a little bit different for us this year because half of our business, or more, is being done online,” she said. As long as the weather doesn’t affect the internet or cellular connections, customers can still shop.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Fairfield Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Peggy Emerson said for those who rely more on in-store sales, the early January storm affected more than just the two days snow fell.
“We really lost four days,” she said.
Emerson said her members lost sales during the storm, but also sales were down or absent on the Saturday before because people were prepping for the storm. Then on Tuesday, many parking lots were still snow-packed, and many streets were slush-covered and difficult to navigate.
Rick Pearce, president and CEO of The Chamber Serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton, said small business owners are clearing their sidewalks and even their on-street parking spots as well as welcoming customers.
That, however, isn’t the case for small businesses in downtown areas, like a restaurant, which rely on daily walk-in traffic.
“It’s the constant attention to the exit and entrance to your location if you’re in a space like a downtown that can cause problems,“ he said. ”But the weather can hurt all brick-and-mortar business, except your grocery stores and gas stations because everybody gets their stuff to hunker down and everybody’s filling up on gas.”
Looking at silver linings, Pearce said, if a debilitating weather event is to happen, it’s better to be on an expected slow business day than a busy one.
McCleary said a conversation he knows Tano management has frequently is the return on investment worth it when opening during inclement or bad weather.
“We want to be open as much as possible, but there is a cost associated with even opening the door,” he said. “We still have to pay people to be here.”
It can be tough in January and early February because “the margin’s already thin,” and having bad weather on top of several weeks of expected slow business, “it makes it that much harder sometimes.”
Sometimes Mother Nature cooperates with small business owners, as it did in January 2023 when it has unseasonably nice weather, McCleary said and businesses were busy.
The windy and snowy winter is expected to continue into this week and next weekend. It’ll be at or below freezing for most of the upcoming week, and there’s a slight chance (as of today) for snow for this coming weekend.
“People don’t want to go out in this stuff,” he said.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
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