If Old Man Winter’s Nov. 13 visit is a precursor of the winter to come, then the National Federation of Independent Business says small-business owners might have cause for concern.
According to an NFIB study, winter storms are the greatest source of weather-related problems for small businesses.
In the last three years, nearly one-third of small businesses in operation have been forced to shut their doors for 24 hours or longer due to a natural disaster, the study found. Also, two-thirds of businesses that close for weather say the loss of sales and customers is the biggest problem they face in the wake of weather-related disasters.
The restaurant industry, which relies heavily on people’s whims, could be the hardest hit.
Even just the prediction of snow is enough to knock off Ralph Battista’s business by almost 30 percent.
Battista, who owns Luigi’s Restaurant and Luigi’s Gourmet Express on Hartford Avenue in Johnston, said when TV weathermen go on the air and start predicting snowfall, “it means doom” for his sit-down restaurant.
“If there are reservations on the books, the cancellations start rolling in,” Battista said.
The weekend mini-storm earlier this month dropped 4 inches of snow on the Providence area, and, according to Sandi Duncan, managing editor of the Farmers’ Almanac, the weather this winter is going to be “wild and wacky.”
While the 2005 Farmers’ Almanac predicts unseasonably cold weather and unseasonably warm weather for the northeastern United States and New England, the one consistent factor will be “a lot of precipitation.”
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But at Olive’s, a bar and restaurant on North Main Street in Providence, that forecast doesn’t necessarily spell disaster.
“If it’s a weekend, people still come out,” assistant shift supervisor Patsy Patchell said. “And people come in and stay instead of bar hopping because it’s cold out.”
David Silverberg, owner of the Ivy Tavern on Hope Street in Providence, said blaming a slow night on the weather is tough because his business goes up or down depending on patrons’ seasonal habits.
“I can’t really gauge how good or bad business is on weather,” Silverberg said. “I think it’s almost a seasonal thing.”
Silverberg said he thinks people have a certain seasonal mentality and tend to go out more in the summer months. And as the winter holidays approach, they become busier with family obligations and other holiday-related activities.
“I’m in the neighborhood business and the bad weather (last year) was actually good for me,” Silverberg said. “I get a lot of pedestrian business and during the really bad storms we had great nights.”
National Federation of Independent Business found – aside from loss of businesses due to weather – 18 percent of small-business owners said damages and expenses not covered by their insurance policy is a major hardship. While most of those in the survey called their policies adequate, the lack of insurance they referred to was related to continuing operations.
