ALEXANDRIA, VA (BRAIN)—Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, call it what you will—many east coast and southern retailers have never been rocked by winter’s white teeth like this before.
“I grew up here and I’m 47 years old, and I’ve never seen this kind of snow,” said Mark Walowac, manager at Spokes Etc. in Alexandria, Virginia.
Spokes Etc. was actually closed the better half of last week due to the pounding snowstorm that has wreaked havoc in states like Virginia and Maryland—places that aren’t accustomed to 50-plus inches of the white stuff. “It’s definitely not something were used to,” Walowac added.
Baltimore and Washington D.C. have seen triple the amount of snow they usually get, as more than 70 inches has pummeled both cities. In Dallas, a city usually accustomed to getting 3 inches a year has already gotten more than 15 inches.
“Go outside and the enjoy the winter wonderland,” a recording said last Friday at Richardon Bike Market, located just north of Dallas. All three of Richardon’s locations were closed last Friday.
And while Florida might be getting off the hook when it comes to snow, such is not the case when it comes to cold temperatures.
“I’d say it’s been running 10 to 15 degrees below normal over the past couple of weeks,” said John Salmons, manager of Orange Cycle Works in Orlando. “Tomorrow (Saturday) morning it’s supposed to be 35 degrees.”
It’s no surprise then that “repairs aren’t coming in” like they usually do. “Local residents are waiting for the weather to warm up,” Salmons said. Interestingly enough, helping supplement some of that local drop off are international residents stopping in fresh from Disney World, he added.
If Seinfeld logic holds true where everything in life “evens out” that must mean places that usually get hit hard aren’t seeing as much as snow as they usually do.
“We’ve been blessed,” said Ron Bingham, vice president of Goodale’s Bike Shop in Nashua, New Hampshire. “We haven’t really been affected.”
Not sure how Seinfeld would explain this: following last week’s record breaking storms, 49 states (yes, even Florida) had snow on the ground. Seinfeld would likely have to go back 30-plus years to find such a statistic.
—Jason Norman
