ST. LOUIS — Heavy snowfall and subzero temperatures sent Midwesterners scurrying to local grocery stores to prepare, but it was a challenge that didn’t send retailers adrift.
“We’re faring well,” Chon Tomlin, spokeswoman for Save-A-Lot, headquartered here, told SN Monday.
Tomlin said the company prepared in advance for the storm, front-loading stores with staples like canned goods, bread and milk, with each receiving two additional truckloads of goods.
Although all Save-A-Lot stores opened Saturday, corporate stores in St. Louis closed at noon Sunday due to heavy snow.
Schnuck Markets, also in St. Louis, likewise heeded the advance warning by ordering as much merchandise as possible to handle additional demand.
“We have an extensive supply chain and transport our own goods so we could keep pace with regular shipments to stores,” spokeswoman Lori Willis said.
In Dayton, Ohio, it was frigid temperatures, not snow that brought customers to Dorothy Lane Market, said store director Fred Pfeiffer.
“On Saturday, [business] was up 75%,” Pfeiffer said.
“We were pretty well prepared,” he added. “The only thing we ran out of was our artisan breads because there wasn’t enough time for the dough to rise. But we had all the staples.”
Read more: 'Perfect Storm' of Cold, Bengals Leads to Record Sales at Kroger
Pfeiffer said that some of the store’s delivery trucks were delayed due to snow in Indiana and that on Monday it may have been temporarily out of a few items.
Elsewhere in the Midwest, Rainbow Foods in Minneapolis said it would close at 8 p.m. Monday due to the intense cold. And Whole Foods Market closed Chicago stores early due to record low temperatures.
In Indianapolis, Kroger distribution centers were running 24 hours behind in stocking stores because employees were unable to make it to work, according to a published report.
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