If you live here, you know the story. About a week before Christmas, snow and ice covered the Vancouver area. Workers and shoppers stayed home, pipes burst, roofs caved – and businesses got little of the recession relief promised by holiday sales.
Happy holidays.
Frozen pipes, frozen sales
For Ernie Anonuevo, owner of Vancouver-based Alex’s Pilipino Store, the weather didn’t slow sales until it froze his overhead pipes. They burst Dec. 16 on an 800-square-foot store full of merchandise and equipment.
“My whole ceiling came down,” Anonuevo said.
He moved his wares – including eight large freezers with motors damaged by about 5 inches of water – to a nearby storage space the next day,
“It looked like a little swimming pool” inside the freezers, Anonuevo said.
By early January, Vancouver-based Action Restoration Inc. and Ridgefield-based Clearcreek Construction were replacing the store’s ceiling and front wall.
Anonuevo hopes insurance will cover repair costs as well as some economic damage, estimating December revenues fell 10 percent from 2007. He hopes to reopen by mid-January.
“My customers keep calling, saying, ‘When will you be in business?’ ” he said.
A $25,000 loss
At Vancouver-based Spanky’s, December’s storm closed the shop for nearly 23 of its regular hours, causing a $25,000 drop in sales and new consignor agreements.
“It had quite a bit of impact, especially for end-of-year planning,” said Lee Rafferty, who has co-owned the store with Sandy Kramer for 28 years.
Typical staff teams of five or six were down to one or two employees, she said. Spanky’s 23 employees determined their own commute safety, and for those living near the East Vancouver shop, Rafferty and Kramer provided transportation.
“We did everything we could to get our crew here so they could have the hours and do the work,” Rafferty said. “We knew if people could get to Mill Plain and the widely traveled roads, we could open.”
Customer traffic was further deterred by an attempted robbery and false bomb threat at a nearby Round Table Pizza, she said.
Rafferty said the losses were sizable, but will rely on reserves for recovery.
“We will not be capsized by this,” she said. “Yes, the weather was discouraging. Yes, it came at the worst time ever. But it’s one of those things we can’t do anything about, so we have to focus forward.”
Rollercoaster of sales
Until the snow hit, annual sales at Vancouver-based Bader Beer and Wine Supply were up 18 percent from the same period in 2007. But December’s sales were down 26 percent from projections.
“From the 10th to the 25th, it slowed customer traffic dramatically,” said Owner Steve Bader.
The store didn’t close during the storm, and most of its four full-time equivalent employees live nearby and were able to commute with snow tires or chains.
“(But) we had many days where we were wondering why we were here,” Bader said. “Our parking lot was difficult to get into and around.”
Having worked in retail since the 1980s, the slowdown was part of a regular course of events for Bader.
“After you’ve been around a while, you hope you have some financial reserves that cover any bizarre emergency that could come along,” he said. “To me, this was nothing more than business as usual as a retailer. You always have fluctuations and you never know when they’re going to be.”
Bader expects to make up his losses in January because his customer base is strong.
“We’ll certainly make up the vast majority, if not all of it, in the next month,” he said. “People love to drink. It’s why we’re in business.”
Slower and slower
For smaller businesses, the economic losses were smaller but no less significant.
Facing more than 12 inches of snow, Z-Coil Vancouver was closed from Dec. 19 to Dec. 27, and lost an estimated $2,200 in sales, said Jeanette Dunkin, who owns and operates the shoe store with her son, Richard Kimbell.
That loss was especially hard because the economy has pushed sales down since October, Dunkin said. Annual revenue for 2008 was about 25 percent below that of 2007.
“We’re wondering how long we’re going to stay open, and we want to stay open,” Dunkin said. “A lot of people are hurting. … We’re just holding our breath.”
Vancouver-based Star Satellite doesn’t have a retail presence, but the snow brought its sales to a halt in December, said Owner Cathy Hale.
“Even when the streets are clear, we still can’t do work because it’s not safe to put people on ladders when they’re in snow,” she said. “We’ve been really hard hit.”
Hale has been in business nearly 13 years, selling satellite TV service and subcontracting with three installers. With sports fans preparing to watch bowl games, December typically brings five new customers, but this year there have been none – meaning Hale is down more than $3,000.
“That’s a lot of money, for me anyway,” she said. “I have bills that come due whether I make the jobs or not.”
State could provide economic injury help
For businesses that suffered economic loss during December’s snow storm, financial assistance could be on its way.
Through 5 p.m. on Feb. 2, Clark County will collect economic damage assessments from businesses that experienced weather-related revenue losses from Dec. 17 to Dec. 28.
Assessments submitted to the county will help qualify the state for assistance from the federal Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Loans program, said Cheryl Bledsoe, emergency management manager for Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency.
“The loans are really geared toward retail and businesses that should have been flourishing during the Christmas season,” Bledsoe said.
At press time, at least eight Clark County businesses reported revenue loss during those 12 days, which Bledsoe said more than qualifies for an economic loss declaration from Gov. Chris Gregoire.
“The state anticipates every county will have at least one business affected,” Bledsoe said.
The federal assistance would come in long-term loans to help businesses, meet payroll and ongoing financial obligations, particularly in the retail sector.
A business could borrow as much as $2 million, but actual loan amounts will be determined by SBA based on proof of loss, she said.
The damage assessment form is available at www.cresa911.blogspot.com or the CRESA office and can be submitted by fax to 360-694-1954, emailed to cresaemergencymanagement@clark.wa.gov or mailed to the CRESA office, 710 W. 13th St. in Vancouver.
If enacted by the governor, the loan program could take effect after Jan. 15.
December 2006 was the last time such financial emergency assistance was made available in Clark County, after a wind storm closed Westfield Vancouver Mall during a holiday shopping evening, Bledsoe said.
Charity Thompson can be reached at cthompson@vbjusa.com.
