Historic Snow & Ice Storm Didn't Play Well in Peoria

During the second week of the holiday shopping season, the first major snow and ice storm hit the Midwest, raging from the Rockies into Texas and then blasting its way through Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan. So bad was the storm that, in an area of the country where snowfall is as commonplace in December as decorations, menorahs, and Christmas trees, local media in Illinois characterized the two-day storm as "historic."

The snowstorm grounded hundreds of flights, closed schools, turned highways to ice, caused major power outages, and resulted in a number of fatalities on the road. The hardest hit region was central and southern Illinois. Booksellers in the region who spoke to BTW counted themselves among the fortunate, but reported that the massive storm closed down their towns, and, in nearly all cases, put the "kibosh" on business for at least a day.

In Virden, Illinois, where The Sly Fox bookstore is located, the storm hit on Thursday, November 30, with freezing rain and, after dumping about a three-inch layer of ice on the ground, turned to snow on Friday, December 1. Though the downtown area was fortunate in that it did not lose power, Sly Fox's George Rishel noted that the ice storm forced the town to cancel its annual County Christmas celebration on that Friday (it was held a week later, on December 8). "What is normally a busy time for us, was not," Rishel said. "On Saturday (following the storm), we did hold our story time at 11:00 a.m., and we had a decent turnout."

While damage in Virden was mostly limited to fallen tree limbs, Rishel said that the support on his store's 40-year-old awning buckled due to the weight of the snow and ice. At the conclusion of Saturday story time, sheets of ice and snow began sliding off. Rishel was able to prop up the awning temporarily with a steel rod, but ultimately he had to purchase a new one.

"For the last several years, we've had decent weather here," Rishel said. "It's unusual to get this kind of ice storm at this time of the year.... [It] took a significant bite out of business. Older people couldn't get out of their homes." As for whether he'd make up the lost business, he said, "I have my doubts. You lose that momentum, and it takes a while to get it back up. But we were just a little unfortunate. There are others without power who couldn't do any business at all, so I can't complain."

Like pretty much every business downtown, I Know You Like a Book in Peoria Heights, Illinois, was shut down for a couple of days when the storm hit, said Mary Beth Nebel. "By Friday morning, even the city buses weren't running," she said. "First it began sleeting and then the snow came."

Added Nebel, "It took two to three days for the city to clean up the ice underneath." The store, which is always closed on Sunday, was closed for the entire weekend, and it did not receive any damage.

Nebel's bookstore just opened in May, so it's impossible for her to gauge how this storm may or may not affect the holiday shopping season. However, since the storm, "business has been very good.... Christmas sales are going pretty well."

Surprisingly, for Books & More in Albion, Michigan, the storm actually increased business, reported Dorothy Dickerson. The bookstore -- which had power while just a half-a-block away businesses had none -- has a cozy cafe with a wood-burning stove that turned out to be a popular gathering place as the city dug out of the snow.

But while the day turned out good, it didn't seem to start out that way, Dickerson said. "You just wake up and you don't have any power in your home and you just know it's going to be a long day," she said, but things turned around when she went to the bookstore and cafe, and saw it had power. "We were busy! The coffee shop did almost twice the business it usually does. It has nice ambience ... it's a great place to sit, curl up by the fire, and read a book." The bookstore itself was also busy, though it did not double its business, she said.

Though Dickerson was told not to expect power back on in her home until the end of the weekend, it came back on Friday evening. And the storm did not cause any major damage to the town. --David Grogan