Downtown businesses reeling from winter weather

By Harry Loomis

Amid a brutal week of weather in St. Joseph, businesses all throughout town have had to make adjustments to their operations.

But while major national companies in town like Walmart and Target have no trouble rolling with whatever conditions winter may bring, many of the city’s local businesses don’t have the same resources to adjust.

Part of the issue, especially Downtown, is the lack of parking. Once the snow builds up on the sides of the road, street parking becomes even more scarce.

“[It’s] a definite problem, especially for our disabled crowd,” said Louis Storm, a barista at Mokaska. “People can’t park out front and there’s really no ledge for them to get up off the sidewalk or off the street onto the sidewalk. So all of our customers are affected.”

Another reason that the large businesses in town have less trouble in extreme weather is the essential products that they provide. Customers are more likely to run to Hy-Vee for groceries than they are to run to a local coffee shop or boutique.

This is a disadvantage in terms of sales but can provide leeway to the employees so that they do not have to drive in the dangerous conditions.

“When you think about what’s going on Downtown, there’s not anything that’s corporate or part of the main capitalistic drive of the city,” Storm said. “It’s all local businesses. So we’re able to close. If the weather is bad … making sure our employees are taken care of, making sure our customers aren’t having to come out and see us in this cold weather.”