Weathering the storm

While most businesses endured disrupted routines, lost sales and employee absences as a result of last week's ice storms, some saw unexpected gains as area residents sought shelter and alternative sources of power to brighten dark homes.

The West Park Mall shut down Tuesday and didn't reopen until noon Wednesday. Manufacturing and service providers struggled to meet production and delivery goals. And with the storm hitting right before Valentine's Day, florists and jewelers in many instances fell short of their sales expectations.

Hotels, meanwhile, were booked solid, with some sending room seekers to Perryville, Mo., and farther. Restaurants recorded a spike in takeout orders and hardware dealers depleted their stocks of shovels and generators.

"There were some interesting comments from places I would not have thought would benefit," said John Mehner, president and chief executive officer of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce. "Restaurants that were open seemed to do very well because people didn't have power and couldn't cook. Hospital emergency rooms went bonkers from accidents from people falling down. And for hardware stores, their only complaint was that they couldn't get their hands on what they could sell."

But overall, Mehner said, retailers had the same rough week everyone else was having.

People who sought out hotel rooms soon after they lost power had the most luck finding shelter. "My gosh it is booming here," said Pauline Niswonger at the Town House Inn in Jackson.

Both locations of the Town House Inn in Jackson and Cape Girardeau are owned by Matt and Robin Goehman, Niswonger's daughter and son-in-law. The Jackson location has 21 rooms. "We could have filled four times that many," she said.

The biggest sellers at Elias Ace Hardware, 1719 N. Kingshighway, included standard winter storm needs such as rock salt and shovels but also extended to propane, propane heaters, generators and batteries, said Tammy Elias, who operates the business with her husband, Fred Elias.

By Friday, the store had restocked generators and propane heaters. While many people had power restored by that time, sales to people who want to be prepared for the next time they lose power should help move the product out the door, Tammy Elias said.

"We sold out every oil lamp we have," she said Wednesday. "We got in six more gallons of lamp oil today and by 10 o'clock it was all gone."

On Monday and Tuesday evenings, Elias stayed open later than normal as customers seeking supplies kept the store busy, she said.

But downtown on Main Street, Lang Jewelers saw scant business, said Judith Ann Lang, who owns the landmark Cape Girardeau business with her husband, Roger Lang. Valentine's Day is a major retailing day for jewelers. Not as big as Christmas, Judith Ann Lang said, but an important day for the store's profits.

The store is normally closed Monday, but remained shuttered Tuesday as well, she said. "On Wednesday, Roger did walk down here and had some nice sales, but nothing like what we would have expected."

Overall, Lang said, sales were about 40 percent lower for Valentine's Day than she anticipated. There may be some revival, she said, as people more concerned about their darkened home than a romantic holiday make up for missing the day.

Even after roads were cleared, customers had difficulty getting to the store, she said. "Parking was the other issue downtown. The lots were iced and slick, the streets were iced and even today the curb areas are packed with ice where all the plows came through," she said Friday.

At Thorngate Ltd., a manufacturer of men's suits at 1507 Independence St., production didn't cease but nearly half the employees failed to report for their shifts Tuesday. Employee attendance was down Wednesday as well, said Luke Landgraf, the company's human resource manager.

"We will be working the next two Saturdays to catch up," he said. "We've got some flexibility built in but when you have that many people out it is sort of hard to be that flexible."

Nearby at Tipton Linen Service, 1415 Independence St., deliveries and pickups did not stop. One route couldn't be serviced and on another the driver was told by emergency workers to turn back. A third driver slipped on the ice Tuesday and was unable to report for work Thursday, company owner Tom Tipton said.

"We have never missed a day of being open since 1979," he said Wednesday. "However, yesterday, maybe we probably should have."

At Red Lobster, 3269 William St., the big call was for takeout meals, while sit-down business was off, said Mike Mahan, assistant manager. "Overall, it is about the same or slower," he said Wednesday. "But last night, we were very busy."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126