A boon to some, a bust to others

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December 24, 2008

Some businesses thrive in wake of storm, others suffer crippling losses

By Suzanne Laurent

It was a long week for many businesses, whether or not they still had power after the ice storm hit on Dec. 12.

Rebecca Allen, owner of the Ultimate Attraction Salon on East Derry Road said she lost a lot of business at what is her "busiest time of the year."

"I didn't think a generator would be able to handle the hot water and blow dryers," she said.

This week Allen was busy making up canceled appointments for her clients.

Just down the road, the East Derry General Store lost a lot of frozen products and other perishable items like milk said manager Sam Patel.

And Jay Latulippe, owner of the East Derry School of Music further down on East Hampstead Road, was busy with make-up lessons this week, however not in his home, which was still without power on Monday. He had to set up shop at the Church of the Transfiguration for his students.

Brothers' Corner Variety on the corner of South and Brook Roads in Derry did not lose power because it is on the same grid as Parkland Medical Center.

The store that has been in town since 1924 had many more customers than usual looking for batteries, food and flashlights.

Hardware stores also did a whopping business last week.

"We had a tremendous amount of people looking for anything to do with the outage," said Jay Wulfson, manager of Benson's Hardware and Lumber in Derry.

"Gas cans were especially hard to come by."

The Benson's in Londonderry was just as busy.

"People were buying whatever they could get their hands on for warmth," said Kevin Littlefield, a lumber salesman.

"We had massive lines of people waiting for propane and 5-gallon gas cans."

Littlefield said everyone worked together under the stress.

"It was good to see the community come together," he said.

"I thing they learned from what they saw with what happened with things like Katrina."

Littlefield said people were buying generators that cost $1200 and over, extension cords, kindling wood, propane and stockpiling gas.

"Anything not to feel like it's back in the 1800s," he said.

As the week wore on, he saw an uptake in the sale of chains and padlocks as the theft of generators became an issue.

"People need to have a survival kit for times like these," Littlefield said.

"Kerosene heaters, flashlights, batteries, propane for the gas grill, firewood, and think about buying a generator."

Fitness centers also saw a spike in business as people wanted to come by for showers.

Planet Fitness in Derry offered showers to non-customers and Gravity Fitness in Derry let members bring in family members for a shower.

The Workout Club and Wellness Center with locations in Derry and Londonderry offered guest fees at two-thirds off its $15 price. People could pay a $5 fee to use the gym for the day, but most opted to use just the showers said Ed Guldin, area general manager.

"Our boiler broke with so much use," Guldin said. "We ran out of towels, soaps, shampoos. We had to charge the fee to offset our costs."