STORM BRINGS PROBLEMS TO NEW YORK STORES

MICHAEL HARRISON

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. -- A severe, fast-moving Labor Day thunderstorm that swept across the New York metro area here caused widespread power outages and problems for some retailers.

Rain, hail and winds clocked at more than 70 miles an hour in some areas resulted in downed trees and power lines and spawned a tornado in the Village of Lynbrook in south Nassau County on Long Island.

Andy Carrano, a spokesman for A&P, based in Montvale, N.J., told SN that a Waldbaum's in Glen Head on the island's North Shore lost power for several hours because of the storm. He added that customers living in areas that lost power were coming into stores to replenish perishable products, though there wasn't much demand for basic survival items such as bottled water and batteries.

"Usually that stuff goes before there's a storm. This wasn't a hurricane where you get a lot of warning. This hit all of a sudden," he said.

According to Richard Savner, a spokesman for Pathmark Stores, based in Carteret, N.J., four stores in central New Jersey and one in a suburb of Philadelphia lost power for short periods "but at no time did any of our stores close for business." One of the New Jersey stores, he said, "was on a [backup] generator due to being without electricity for a long time."

At Key Food's Brooklyn headquarters, Stan Goldman, director of retail services, said there were no reported power outages at any of that company's stores, including the Dan's Supreme Supermarket it operates on Staten Island, another part of the New York metro area severely affected by the storm.