BOSTON -- Food retailers here say business is almost back to normal after the third-worst blizzard in city history last week left more than 2 feet of snow in its wake.
stores were reopened later that night, said spokesperson Monica Connors.
Other Stop & Shop stores stayed open throughout the storm, but operated on skeleton crews. However, deliveries from the company's Readville, Mass. distribution center were halted when Massachusetts Governor William Weld declared a state of emergency and closed major highways.
Because the storm was predicted two days before it arrived, stores were able to increase their inventories of staple foods. Stop & Shop managers reported strong sales of milk, bread, bottled water, snow shovels and rock salt last week, Connors said.
Smaller retailers contacted by SN seemed to take the weather in stride.
The two Harvest Co-Op stores, located in Cambridge and Allston, Mass., remained open during the storm and saw some walk-in traffic for milk, bread and candles, the company said.
"We figured we had to stay open for the community, either to offer them food or give them something to do. They were getting stir crazy," said Betty MacKenzie, marketing director of Harvest Co-Op.
DeLuca's Markets, a two-store operation here specializing in gourmet and prepared foods, stayed open its normal hours but suspended its home-delivery service, said a store-level source. Management also had to fill in for absent employees in the eight-person shift.
Business was still slow late in the week due to some unplowed streets and city parking lots, retailers said. City officials have urged residents to stay home or use mass transit instead of their cars. The state of emergency was in effect through last Wednesday.
Other parts of New England were belted March 31 and April 1 with freezing rain and up to 3 feet of snow. The storm is blamed for at least five deaths and left thousands without power.
