ROANOKE, VA – Local businesses in downtown Roanoke are grappling with significant revenue losses as a severe winter storm forced many establishments to modify their operations or close entirely.
Popular breakfast and brunch spot Scrambled typically has around 100 customers on Tuesday. Instead, the breakfast hot spot saw only about 15 patrons brave the snow-covered streets to dine in.
“It’s beautiful, of course, but it really hurts us,” said Scrambled Co-Owner Garry Fleming. “We close on Sunday — that’s our biggest day of the week — and so we missed all of that revenue. We were closed yesterday, but we are always closed on Monday, and so today we thought, let’s come down and see what’s going on.”
The City Market Building, a downtown hub, usually has a lot of activity. However, this popular spot experienced similar challenges.
City Market Building Foundation’s Executive Director Elliot Broyles reported a significant decrease in visitor numbers, noting that the facility typically welcomes between 600 and 1,000 people daily.
“A lot of the workers downtown especially won’t be down here for lunch,” Broyles said. “But you know, there are a lot of people that live downtown that frequent our restaurants. We want to be open for them as much as we can.”
Despite the challenging conditions, some determined customers made their way to their favorite establishments. Devae Goings was among the few who ventured out.
“Not a lot of places I thought would be open today, and then this one kind of just popped up on my brain, and I said alright I’m gonna pull off and see I looked online, and they said it was, and so I said I thought I’d come on in,” said Goings.
The storm’s impact extends beyond just empty tables. Business owners face ongoing operational costs regardless of customer turnout. Fleming emphasized this challenge.
“We still have our expenses. We have rent, we have wages. We have all these other expenses,” said Fleming.
Adding to the difficulties, snow accumulation along downtown streets has significantly reduced available parking, creating an additional barrier for potential customers trying to reach local businesses.
Fleming urged community support once conditions improve.
“I just want to encourage the town people to go visit your favorite local businesses, your small businesses, when you can get yourself out from under the ice,” said Fleming.