Businesses feel crush of snow

For the first few weeks leading into the holiday shopping season, it was a notch below business as usual for shop owner Sharon Shults. Then the storms hit, the icy berms piled up and the foot traffic ground to a halt.

Even as national headlines described a dramatic drop in almost every avenue of spending by recession-reeling consumers, Shults, proprietor of JJ’s Shoes and Boutique in downtown Coeur d’Alene, said sales were only slightly down at her store in early December compared to the previous year.

“Until the weather, we were doing fine,” said Shults, about the 40-year-old shoe shop and boutique that has been a Sherman Avenue mainstay for almost a quarter century. After the snow really started to fall, Shults said foot traffic dropped nearly 70 percent, and sales by as much as 60 percent. “But since the weather, it’s been very, very slow. It definitely is the weather.”

Like a lot of retailers that rely on the flood of traditional pre-Christmas spending sprees, many of the hardy and resolute small business owners along Lake City’s main street hoped the gloomy nationwide reports wouldn’t equal dismal holiday sales in North Idaho. And for a few weeks after the post-Thanksgiving kick-off to the season, several Sherman Avenue store owners said they were seeing a modest dent in their sales from consumers clinching tighter their wallets and purses.

Prior to the snowstorms, Terry Cooper, manager of the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association, estimated that a number of retailers were only off track by about 10 percent from last December, though he added that it was still too early to determine the true impact from the holiday season. “The weather has really skewed the true numbers for what’s happening in downtown Coeur d’Alene.”

However, the change in the forecast more than two weeks ago, which dumped a record-setting several feet of snow overnight on doorsteps across the region, paralyzed the region for days. Unfortunately, the winter weather also brought consumer spending to a standstill with treacherous driving conditions and snowy barricades that emptied aisles and cash registers alike. The snow was so heavy it collapsed several store awnings, including that of JJ’s Shoes and Boutique and the Wine Cellar.

As Cooper of the Downtown Association put it: “It’s a shame to have a situation happen where you are working so hard and trying to make a living, and then have extreme weather that really makes it hard for people to get out and shop.”

“I think, obviously, the weather has added to the challenges of the economic slowdown,” said Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce President Jonathan Coe. As for advice to potential shoppers, Coe said, “My advice would be to just keep trying. The weather can’t keep up like this forever. The core of Coeur d’Alene certainly is a great place to shop.”

Next door to JJ’s Shoes and Boutique, an employee at Clark’s Diamond Jewelers described how the combination of a year-long recession and unrelenting snowfall packed a one-two punch that hasn’t spared any store from the fallout.

“I guess all we have to say is it’s been tough,” said Jane Clark. “We’ve been here 101 years and we’re even feeling it. We’re grateful to be here, and we’ll still be here, but it’s been funny.”

Still, some of the store owners interviewed said that, even though their holiday sales were down, overall they ended the year on a positive note. At Figpickles Toy Emporium, owners Brett and Susan Sommer experienced their best year yet.

“We’ve had some real busy days despite that. We had a record year, though our December sales are down from last year about 12 percent,” Brett Sommer said. A drop in the value of the U.S. dollar against the Canadian dollar helped buoy the store’s revenue, he added, as droves of Idaho’s northern neighbors made the trip south to cash in on the deal. About their overall success, the owner said, “I think people really like the store, it’s just been phenomenal. People have really supported us.”

While the winter months typically saw the largest sales of the year, Sommer said, “a couple summer months actually rivaled our Christmas months.”

As for the art galleries dotting the avenue, the popular art walks and assorted summer shows bring in the biggest crowds of the year. The Art Spirit owner Steve Gibbs said a few exhibits in particular, such as the George Carlson display, helped his business post its best year-end sales since opening more than a decade ago. “It was our best year, but it has started to taper down at the end. Then the snow started, and it stopped,” he explained.

As for a 2009 outlook, Gibbs said, “We’ll keep our belt tight. I think we’ll still do fine, because we have strong support from the community and we have good shows lined up.”

Not every business is feeling the economic pinch, though, as some stores are actually seeing a surge in winter weather-related sales. As is often the story during epic winter seasons, with the snow comes the revelers who take pleasure in the powder. Ski, snowboard and snowmobile sales, as well as the related sporting equipment, are all on the rise.

“It’s been actually very, very good. Of course the snow really helps,” said Julie Vucinich, a manager at the Ski Shack in Hayden. “Our Christmas sales are good, as good as ever, so we were really fortunate.”

Even though last year’s ski and snowboard sales were the best ever for the Ski Shack, Vucinich added, “We’ve been really happy with our sales so far. I think having such a good season last year revved everybody up for this year. Even with the bad news about the economy, it seems like if they ski, they love to ski and that’s what they’ll do. They’ll put money away and make it work.”

Back in the heart of downtown, the Art Spirit owner Steve Gibbs offered his own positive take on how the year will play out. As for the economy and winter weather, he said, “This too will pass and get better.”