Amid Blizzard, Holiday Shoppers Get Top-Notch Service
ROSEVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) -- Many retailers are taking a financial hit because of Saturday's blizzard. With only two weeks left until Christmas Day, the snowstorm interrupted many people's shopping plans.
December's blizzard couldn't come at a worse time.
"Normally this would be probably the second-busiest day that we have," said Shannon Ingersoll of Creative Kidstuff.
Saturday brought one of the biggest snow storms in years, and it happened to fall on one of the bigger shopping days of the year.
"It's a Saturday and so usually we're prepared to usher in families or those people that are doing their holiday shopping and stuff with Christmas just around the corner," said Alese Overly of Runner's World.
"We are going to close early today," said Ingersoll.
Sales will probably fall well below projections, which is all the more difficult at Creative Kidstuff, where December has already been a tough month.
"Close to about a $21,000 day for us [is] what we were hoping [for]," said Ingersoll, adding they would be lucky to hit $1,500.
Cleaning trumped customer service at many stores, but not by choice. There weren't many customers to serve. Those who did venture out were treated to short lines and great customer service.
"I had her all to myself, no long checkout lines," laughed shopper Alice Medley.
Retailers still expect a last-minute rush at stores in the coming days, the problem is, they just don't know when to expect it.
"So it might sneak up on us and we'll be really busy on a day we're not really staffed for it," said Ingersoll.
Many stores closed early Saturday because of the storm.
