By: Gracie Tuohy
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV)– While temperatures have risen since the winter storm two weeks ago, many small businesses in Fayetteville are still feeling its effects. The snow and ice that covered Northwest Arkansas forced several local shops to close for multiple days, leading to financial setbacks for business owners who rely on foot traffic.
Skye Boutique, a locally owned clothing store in downtown Fayetteville, had to close for three days due to the winter weather. Owner Anna Townley said the closure had a significant impact on sales.
“I feel like snow usually affects the business just because if the door isn’t open, people don’t come in,” Townley said.
While Skye Boutique does have an online store with the same inventory as its physical location, Townley said it doesn’t compare to having customers browse in person. She believes that better road conditions could have helped businesses reopen sooner.
“Just getting more plows out to try and make more of the side streets easier for people to get up and down,” she said.
With the store now open again, Townley is hopeful that customers will return.
“I’m hoping that maybe people are getting stir-crazy and want to get back out. I’m glad the snow hit during the week and now we’re opening back up for the weekend,” she said.
Food trucks, which rely on foot traffic and outdoor operations, also struggled during the winter storm. Chewks Cookies, a popular cookie truck in Fayetteville, had to close for three days. Owner Richard Heller said the business hit a financial setback.
“We were out probably $1,000 in sales this week, which when you’re a small business, that’s a lot of money,” Heller said.
Chewks Cookies typically bakes at the Arkansas Food Innovation Kitchen, a university-owned facility, but campus closures meant Heller and his team couldn’t access their kitchen to bake.
“We were going to try to bake Wednesday, couldn’t bake Wednesday. We were going to try to bake Thursday, couldn’t bake Thursday.”
Heller added that outdoor businesses like food trucks face additional challenges in cold weather, as customers are less willing to wait outside in freezing temperatures.
“It’s a very outdoor experience,” he said. “We don’t have our kitchen right inside like a lot of brick-and-mortar places do. It definitely plays a factor, and I think people are less willing to go outside when it’s already cold and leave their warm car to stand outside.”
To keep up with demand, Heller took matters into his own hands.
“I ended up baking a lot of them at home this morning,” he said. “I was up very early in the morning, cranking dough in small capacities and throwing them in my oven.”
Despite the challenges, Heller was able to deliver cookies directly to customers, something he says was appreciated.
“I took a bunch of them to my house and kind of fielded requests as they came in and delivered them myself,” he said. “People were really appreciative, which was fun for me.”
With just over two weeks until spring, many local business owners are hopeful that the worst of the winter weather is behind them. While recovering from lost sales isn’t easy, businesses are eager to welcome customers back as the temperatures rise.