Global Warming Missed Chicago: Retail Sales Off Due to Cold Weather

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

The snowiest winter in almost 30 years is putting the freeze on local commerce.

Snowdrifts, slushy sidewalks and bone-chilling cold are keeping Chicagoans curled up on the couch and out of stores, restaurants and bars. Entire malls, including the area's largest, Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg, have been forced to shut down by the frequent snowstorms that already have made this winter the ninth-snowiest in history.

Purveyors of snow shovels, rock salt and heating pads may be cashing in, but businesses that depend on customers' willingness to brave the elements to make discretionary purchases are hurting.

"There's no question the cold and the snow have hurt our customers and hurt our sales and hurt our stores," a Crate & Barrel spokeswoman says.

In a single day, on Feb. 6, a huge storm forced Crate & Barrel to close stores at Woodfield, Geneva Commons, Northbrook Court, Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie and Plaza del Lago in Wilmette. The Northbrook-based housewares and furniture retailer also closed its Naperville warehouse that day.

The same storm forced Woodfield, Old Orchard and Northbrook Court malls to shut down early, the first time managers there could recall closing because of weather. "It's certainly not a common occurrence," says a spokeswoman for Woodfield, which holds almost 300 stores.

Neighborhood retailers also are feeling the chill. Roy Warner, owner of Roy's Furniture in Lincoln Park, estimates customer traffic is down 50% so far this year compared with the past several years, when winters were milder.

No word yet from Al Gore on this one.