Small business owners say they’ve weathered a storm that left 10 or more inches of snow on downtown streets this week.
It took a mix of snow shovel handiwork, municipal plow trucks and private contractors with backhoes and tri-axle dump trucks to bring business districts back to life.
“This storm wasn’t something you can normally prepare for, and we’re kind of all in it together,” said Neal Jones, who along with his wife owns Mz. Jones’ Curio on West Third Street in Greensburg. “I spent the past two days shoveling and clearing things out around our business. The city has their trucks and their road priorities.”
Linda Gromley, the owner of MacKay’s Market in Tarentum, didn’t let the snow slow her down for a second.
Before opening Monday morning, Gromley and her daughter, Rachel, shoveled out two spaces to give customers access to parking near the shop on East Sixth Avenue.
“We shoveled it out,” Gromley said. “My daughter and I took turns.”
The store has been operating during its regular hours despite the low temperatures.
Gromley said their work was praised by a Turner’s Dairy deliveryman after they’d shoveled.
“He said it was the best job he’d seen all day,” Gromley said.
The city of Greensburg was among municipalities that called on private crews to collect and truck snow off the street.
“It’s rough for everybody,” Jones, the Greensburg business owner, said. “I think it’s good on them for finding a way to move it out.”
In Jeannette, Wilson Candies was closed at the beginning of the week because of the storm and piles of snow outside the business, said Mark Lewis, who co-owns the store with Megan Wilson.
There was a foot of snow piled up outside and along the curb of Route 130, making it difficult for customers to reach the store, Lewis said.
“We have a lot of elderly people, and they couldn’t get into the store” with so much snow, Lewis said.
The chocolate candy shop had one parking spot dug out in front of the store, and parking is available in an adjacent lot.
Owners of businesses in downtown Irwin said it was a combination of the snowstorm, the bitter cold temperatures and the need for the borough to remove snow from the on-street parking spaces that caused the stores to close for the beginning of the week.
Gary Santmyer, longtime owner of the Colonial Grill, a popular restaurant along Main Street, said he closed Sunday because of the storm, then remained closed Monday and Tuesday for snow removal.
“I knew they (Irwin borough) had to remove the snow (on Tuesday) from the street. I knew the snow was never going to disappear. We had to close to let them do what they had to do,” Santmyer said.
Heavy equipment brought in
Irwin Borough contracted with JP Operations of North Huntingdon, which used a front-end loader to lift the snow from the street onto a waiting dump truck. It was then hauled to Irwin Park, where giant piles of snow now cover parts of the parking lot. The use of the dump trucks for three days this week cost the borough about $125 per hour per truck, said Shari Martino, borough manager.
Tarentum Borough has turned to heavy machinery, using Bobcats and dump trucks to remove snow from streets and sidewalks over the past couple of days. The work was expected to continue into the evening Thursday.
The heavy machinery came in handy down the street for Kirk Massart. Massart, owner of Massart’s Restaurant, said the first day after the snow, the borough plowed the street. Then crews came back overnight “when it didn’t affect anybody” with heavy equipment to haul the snow away.
Massart said it’s not the snow keeping people away.
“When it gets this cold and the roads get bad, people stay home,” Massart said. “It’s all pretty cleared off to park.”
Massart complimented the borough’s efforts in removing the snow.
“They did a nice job,” he said.
Icy temperatures slow traffic
Marion McFeely, owner of McFeely’s Gourmet Chocolate on Fourth Street in Irwin, said her store was closed at the beginning of the week, but she was there making chocolate.
Business was slow in the mornings when she did open, McFeely said.
“The combination of the snow and cold. With the bitter cold this week and the snow, the business was very slow,” McFeely said.
McFeely said she was challenged when shoveling the sidewalk in front of her store.
“Where do you put the stuff? That was the only dilemma,” McFeely said.
Jen Wirsing, owner of The Green Berry, said she joined other stores in downtown Irwin in closing at the beginning of the week.
“There was not really much parking” before the snow was removed from along the street, Wirsing said. Business did pick up Wednesday afternoon, after the morning’s bitter cold.
Wirsing was among those — maybe in a minority — who were not upset about the snowfall and subfreezing temperatures this past week.
“We’re really having a Pittsburgh winter this year. I think it’s great for our ecosystem,” Wirsing said with a smile on her face.
Larry Gonos, owner of Wallpaper & Decorating Shoppe on Pennsylvania Avenue, doesn’t have to worry about street parking.
“I made a deal with the (nearby) church to park there,” he said. “But I’m the only employee, and I don’t really have the customer volume at any one time for parking to become an issue.”
A bit farther east in downtown Ligonier, local business owners were very happy with the progress public works crews have made in clearing roads and parking spots.
“My shop is right on The Diamond, and parking is fabulous,” said Dawn Szalay, owner at the Song of Sixpence clothing and boutique. “The borough maintenance didn’t miss a beat. Everything was plowed very quickly, and then they came in with equipment to scoop out the big piles of snow. The weather is really the main factor keeping people home, but the businesses here are open. We’ve been a little quiet, but we’re ready to see customers.”
The frigid weather has also kept the sculptures from last weekend’s Ligonier Ice Fest in peak condition.
Haley Daugherty, Joe Napsha and Patrick Varine are TribLive staff writers. Haley can be reached at hdaugherty@triblive.com. Joe can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com, Patrick can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.