LITTLE ROCK — Operators of shops, hotels, restaurants, theaters and malls across Arkansas dealt with effects of the major snowstorm Wednesday, awakening to a sunny, subfreezing Thursday and trying to figure out what to do next.
Nowhere was the impact greater than in Northwest Arkansas, which bore the brunt of the storm, with accumulations reaching about 2 feet and temperatures plunging to 21 below zero at Northwest Regional Arkansas Airport at Highfill.
Still, some Harps Grocery Store employees walked to work, braving the subzero temperatures Thursday, which drew the praise of Kim Eskew, president of the Springdale-based chain, for their hardiness and commitment.
Harps stores operated on abbreviated schedules Wednesday with some of the 65 stores scattered across Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri expected to again close early Thursday night.
In Little Rock, which received 6 inches of snow, Park Plaza closed at 2 p.m. Wednesday but opened at the usual time Thursday. McCain Mall in North Little Rock shut down at noon and reopened Thursday.
Mark Abernathy closed his two Little Rock restaurants, Loca Luna and Red Door, on Wednesday and Thursday.
“The real problem with this is that although you might not lose a lot of net profit, you lose a lot of cash flow and that is really hard on restaurants,” Abernathy said in an e-mail.
Some grocery stores, including two Kroger locations, closed their doors early Wednesday but opened again Thursday to serve customers running low on supplies.
Steve Edwards, who owns Edwards Food Giant stores in Little Rock and eastern Arkansas, said his stores closed early because of a lack of traffic Wednesday, and out of concern for employee safety.
The Rave Motion Pictures Colonel Glenn 18 movie theater shut down Thursday but was scheduled to reopen today.
Matt Smith said he decided to close Market Street Cinema theater in Little Rock on Thursday because it attracts an older audience, which is more reluctant to venture out, but kept open his other theaters - Searcy Cinema 8, Hot Springs Mall Cinema and Silver Screen Theatre in Cabot - because schools were out and those theaters attract a younger crowd.
Business is off about 40 percent this week at Embassy Suites Hot Springs Hotel & Spa, said Kurt Schatzl, the hotel’s general manager.
Bad weather this winter has hurt the hotel, Schatzl said.
Racing at Oaklawn Park has been canceled a record seven days this season, he added.
“It has hurt our individual travel and a lot of convention business,” Schatzl said.
Two small groups that meet this time every year because of Oaklawn were scheduled to arrive Thursday, he said.
“We’re just looking forward to warmer weather,” Schatzl said.
All 97 Wal-Mart stores in Arkansas, including 69 supercenters, remained open Wednesday and Thursday,said Ashley Hardie, a Wal-Mart spokesman.
Mike Wilkinson, president of Wilkinson’s Mall in Conway, which bills itself as the largest shoe and boot store in Arkansas, said the store was closed Wednesday because of the snow.
“But we should have been open,” said Wilkinson, who was the only person at the store Wednesday. “The phone was ringing off the hook.”
It was only the second time in its 23 years it had closed because of weather, Wilkinson said. The first time was a year ago.
“We shouldn’t have closed then, either,” Wilkinson said.
The Mall at Turtle Creek in Jonesboro, which got about 3 inches of snow, closed at 6 p.m. Wednesday, but almost all of the mall’s 80 stores were expected to remain open until the normal 9 p.m. closing Thursday, said Dianna Evans, the mall’s administrative assistant.
Information for this article was contributed by Laurie Whalen, Alison Sider, Toby Manthey and David Smith of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Business, Pages 27 on 02/11/2011