Snow Affecting Business In Good & Bad Ways
BOSTON (CBS) -- As what seemed to be the weekly Nor'easter blew into eastern Massachusetts, excessive snowfall was becoming a windfall for some businesses while having a chilling effect on others.
Snow and sub-freezing temperatures are registering as cold cash, credit or debit at Hilton's Tent City on Friend Street near the TD Garden, a long-time outfitter and discount supplier of cold weather gear to customers throughout New England.
"I got a nice black and grey North Face 30 percent off. It always helps. It gets cold out there now," said Frank Mattera of Warwick, R.I.
WBZ-TV's Ron Sanders reports.
Tracy Johnson of Somerville was looking for a warm coat even though she's from Minnesota where that's part of the uniform. "I mean I came out here knowing it wasn't quite as cold as the Midwest and so I have, whatever, a jacket and all of a sudden, this weather. I've been out here for four years for school. This is the coldest it's been since I've been here."
And this is the busiest it's been at Hilton's since the record 107-inch snowfall in the winter of 1995 and 96. "Every other call that comes in 'Do you have winter boots? Are you selling snow boots?' With all these storms coming in," said David Kramer as he worked the register.
Then there's the opposite effect from the serial snowstorms. Despite his bottomless cups of coffee and $2.99 breakfast specials, the man who has owned My Sister and I Restaurant in downtown Bridgewater nearly 30 years says his business is off more than 30 percent.
"People don't want to leave the house, you know, in the bad weather driving on the ice and everything. But it's definitely affecting the business, definitely, not in a good way, in a bad way," explained Bob Ginn, the owner who lost business when he lost power in one of the storms.
And at the Bridgewater Florist shop, the flowers are still beautiful, but business is wilting.
"We have to make sure people are shoveled out and we can get there. I have to think of my drivers' well-being. Today, I let everyone go home at noon. So it is kind of putting a little damper on things," said owner Jaime Gomes.
