Open for Business Despite Bad Weather

With Winter Storm Jonas looming, East Coast convenience stores are preparing to stay open and serve their communities.

January 21, 2016

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – When most businesses close up shop during snow storms, there’s one business in the community that residents can count on to stay open: convenience stores.

Depending on the region, prepping for snow storms is business as usual for some convenience store operators. But with a severe snow storm preparing to hit the East Coast this weekend, snow accumulation could reach more than 25 inches in two days in areas that may not see that much snow in five years. Winter Storm Jonas now has Washington, D.C., under a blizzard watch, which is expected to kick into high gear Friday and pummel parts of the East through the weekend with heavy snow and ice, reports weather.com.

During the winter months, many convenience retailers plan in advance to ensure in-store merchandise is available, such as milk, water, wiper fluid and beer. And the days leading up to snow storms also translate to increased volume at the fuel island.

York, Pennsylvania-based Rutter’s is preparing for this weekend’s snow storm by making sure fuel islands and lots are well-stocked with ice melt and salt, and that stores have plenty of shovels, scrapers and flashlights on hand in case the power goes out, said Derek Gaskins, chief customer officer. “As an industry, we stay open when everyone is closed,” he told NACS Daily, noting that shift workers, hospital workers and landscape crews tasked with snow removal rely on c-stores as the only place open for essentials such as coffee, milk, food and fuel.

Keeping store safety a priority, Rutter’s relies on a “snow buddy” internal system staffed by operations supervisors and a professional snow cleaning service, ensuring that higher volume locations are communicated with and maintained often during storms.

Retailers such as Verc Enterprises, located in the Boston area, stayed open for business in early March 2015, a time that saw a new record for annual snowfall in the New England area. Despite terrible inconveniences related to power outages, dangerous road travel and interrupted mass transit systems, convenience stores such as Verc were there to serve their customers. Throughout all of the storms the convenience retailer never closed a 24-hour location.

Barry Ahern, director of operations at Verc, told NACS last year that none of Verc’s stores lost power for more than a few hours, and even the stores that typically closed during the night stayed open 24 hours to ensure customers had access to stores. “We also put some staff and/or managers up at hotels across the street or near locations to ensure that the stores that normally close were able to open on time for customers,” he said.

During inclement weather, Ahern also shared that when Massachusetts declares a state of emergency, gas station and convenience store employees are considered essential personnel, “as we provide essential services to the public and consumer.”

Although it remains to be seen what Mother Nature has in store this weekend, consumers can count on convenience stores to serve their needs.  

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