Area malls and eateries get back to business after storm
First, it's too warm to buy a new winter coat. Then, just when you need one, a powerful storm forces the stores to close.
First, it's too warm to buy a new winter coat. Then, just when you need one, a powerful storm forces the stores to close.
While many began the exhaustive task of digging themselves and their vehicles out, others stayed indoors, hoping the sun would do much of the work.
As a result, the region's malls, restaurants, and bars reopened for business, but their customers didn't return in droves.
Wendy Silverwood, 55, of East Goshen, Chester County, was among those who stayed home Sunday. She echoed the sentiment of many when she said: "Shopping can wait. Let's let the road crews, police, and emergency road services go out and clear the roads first.
"A lot of people can't even get out of their driveways yet," said Silverwood, who works in sales. "You can go to the mall tomorrow."
Not exactly music to mall owners' ears. Mother Nature played a cruel joke on many of their retailers this season - including Macy's, which took a huge fourth-quarter hit because of lackluster winter-wear sales.
The mall closures this weekend just made the financial wound sting that much more.
For months, stores struggled to get coats and other winter gear off the floors because it had been so warm and customers weren't buying.
Retail analysts estimated the losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Deep markdowns began earlier this month on coats and other winter essentials, like gloves and scarves, way ahead of normal to make room for spring inventories.
Then bam! In one swoop, nearly two feet of snow or more fell in the region, and all of a sudden, it got cold, like really cold, in the low 20s with blustery wind gusts.
By 10 a.m. Saturday, as flakes blanketed the region, Simon Property Group - owner of King of Prussia Mall and several other area malls - and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), which owns Cherry Hill Mall, among others - announced their malls were closing for the day.
Closing a mall on a Saturday, its busiest day of the week, is unheard of. But the owners said they had no choice.
PREIT spokeswoman Heather Crowell said teams worked all through Saturday night to get the malls ready to reopen Sunday, including plowing the parking lots over and over.
At 11 a.m., King of Prussia and Cherry Hill reopened, as did Oxford Valley, Cumberland, Moorestown, Springfield, and Willow Grove Park Malls, and stayed open until 6 p.m., their regular Sunday hours.
Other malls had delayed openings (Plymouth Meeting and Montgomery Malls at 1 p.m., Exton Square Mall at 2.)
Two Simon-owned outdoor malls - Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Limerick, Montgomery County, and Gloucester Premium Outlets in Blackwood, N.J. - stayed closed because they required more cleanup. They will reopen Monday.
Reflective of shopping's emerging online frontier, Macy's and Kohl's bombarded their customers with emails just after 10 a.m. Saturday as the flakes started coming down faster and in bigger clumps.
"Snow problem? No problem. We've got you covered," boasted the Kohl's online ad for 50 percent to 60 percent off for winter outerwear.
Restaurants and bars in Center City were getting back their streets and patronage on Sunday.
"Business was slower than usual, but definitely worth it opening today," said Amanda Brotnitsky, 24, weekend manager of Fuel at 1225 Walnut St., which serves dishes all under 500 calories. "The streets are OK in this neighborhood. They've been plowed."
Fuel closed Saturday and reopened at 11 a.m. Sunday.
"We're not getting the tourists today, but we're getting our regulars," Brotnitsky said.
Locust Rendezvous, a bar and grill at 1415 Locust St. that has become known as a go-to neighborhood bar, stayed open from 11 a.m. Saturday until 2 a.m. Sunday, its normal hours.
General manager Michele Recupido said the crowd Saturday night was actually much bigger than Sunday's.
"The neighborhood was off the hook," she said of the vibe during Saturday's storm. "We were very, very busy, and very fortunate.
"I think people were digging out today."
215-854-4184 @SuzParmley