Many business, like local government agencies, were closed one or more days because of the ice- and snow-covered roads left behind by Sunday night's storm.
Wayne Alexander, General Manager, at Hardy Chevrolet in Gainesville said, "Actually, we were on a very limited amount of people. We were open all week." Alexander said they closed at about 1:30 on Monday; Tuesday, they closed at about 4:00.
He added that almost 100 percent of the business was down because of the storm and that "the cold weather after the snow and the ice had such an impact on everybody, you couldn't get around safely and therefore there was just nobody that was coming in, and rightfully so." According to Alexander, people didn't have working on cars or buying cars on their mind.
At Hayes Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Oakwood, Sales Manager Bobby Myers said they were closed two days last week, Monday and Tuesday because of, "the roads... customers couldn't get here. We want everybody to be safe."
Myers thought 10 to 20 percent of the business was affected by the storm. Myers added that the techinicians didn't get to turn in as many hours in the service shop and they didn't sell as many cars as they expected to sell. He thought the storm had a big impact on business.
Shopping centers were closed and some, when they did open, closed early. Many stand-alone stores, from chain operations to the mom-and-pop variety, were affected also. Many had to close their doors because employees couldn't get to work, leaving them inadequately staffed. Some that were open had few customers and the employees who did show up found themselves pulling double-shifts with management, in some cases, finding itself on the front lines instead of working behind the scenes.
Even when they did re-open, business was slow at first because so many would-be customers were housebound by the icy roads.
Then there was the expense in many cases of hiring someone to clear parking lots of the 6-10 inches of snow that fell across the region. Fortunately, at both Hayes Automotive in Oakwood and at Hardy Chevrolet in Gainesville, all of the plowing and deicing were done in house, so no extra expenses were incurred.
Shipments of supplies were delayed because trucks couldn't make their deliveries because of the condition of the roads. Home improvement stores had to turn customers away who were seeking one of the most popular items this week: something to melt the ice and snow from driveways, walkways and doorsteps. They ran out quickly and had not received additional shipments.
Gasoline and food deliveries were delayed.
The industrial community was hit hard as well. Truckers could get to plants to deliver their goods or to pick up cargo. For some of those who could get around, they often found the plant closed, again, because of the weather.
No one seems know exactly what the dollar-loss will be when the snow and ice are gone and things return to normal but noted Mercer University economist Roger Tutterow told Georgia News Network a few days ago the state should be bracing for the adverse impact the storm will have on the state.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/1/235312