What blizzard? Some businesses open Wednesday

When small business owner John Casper found the roads impassible early Wednesday morning, he pulled on his boots and walked to his hardware store.

The owner of Casper True Value in Lake Zurich lives about a mile from his shop on Old Rand Road. He’s glad he was able to open the business at 8 a.m., as customers made their way in looking mainly for shovels and spark plugs and belts for their snowblowers. “We’re here when people need us,” said Casper, adding that this was the first time he was forced to walk to work.

Some employees at Mr. Z’s Supermarket on Main Street near downtown Lombard also made their way though snowdrifts, walking to the grocery store to help open at 7 a.m. Wednesday, said employee Dennis Voorhees.

Business was slow early in the day as customers were busy digging out of their homes. But he said sales picked up slightly as the day went on and workers fielded multiple phone calls checking if the store was open and selling groceries.

Heavy snows and winds forced many area shopping centers to close all day Wednesday. Many fast food chains, including McDonald’s, opened mid day and were ready for a dinner rush.

Some small businesses, already struggling in this economy, made every effort to remain open during one of the worst snowstorms in history.

Jim Lendmann stayed at work all night so he could open his Algonquin restaurant in the morning.

Lendmann spent the night on a sofa bed in an upstairs office and opened Reese’s Restaurant in downtown Algonquin at 4:30 a.m.

Lendmann lives in Schaumburg and said he has stayed at the business in the past during big storms so he’s ready to shovel snow in the morning.

“Our first customer came right at 4:30 a.m. He was up all night plowing,” Lendmann said Wednesday morning.

Altogether, about 25 to 30 customers had come in for breakfast throughout the morning. “It’s more than I thought I’d have, I’m very happy,” Lendmann said.

In Arlington Heights, Dunton House Restaurant was one of the few establishments to serve breakfast Wednesday morning.

Some gas stations also operated during the storm. Minuteman Gas Station at Rand and Miller roads in Lake Zurich opened about 11 a.m. An employee there said business was slow, adding that snowplow drivers were their primary customers.

Hardware stores, including Ace Hardware in Libertyville, made the extra effort to open.

Buikema’s Ace Hardware at 1030 N. Washington in Naperville reported that the effort was worth it and that they did a booming business.

Employee Nick Hetherington said they sold nearly 10 snowblowers by noon. Shovels, snowmobile oil and parts were other common purchases.

Meanwhile, Walgreens stores across the suburbs were in operation during the storm.

Emmanuel Ramos plowed through the snow early Wednesday morning in his Hummer to get from his Inverness home to his job opening the store at 3 E. Golf Road in Arlington Heights.

“I wouldn’t have made it here if I was in a regular car,” he said.

Ramos felt it was important to get to work. “We have to help the people,” he said.

Lisa Even of Barrington made her way to the Lake Zurich Jewel grocery store at about 7 a.m. Wednesday. “My husband drove down the middle of the road and dropped me off,” she said. The store opened for business by 11:30 a.m.

It was business as usual at Piece-A-Cake Bakery, which opened at 6 a.m. and was one of the only businesses operating in the Dundee business district along Route 72 and River Street.

Diane Ahrens, who owns the bakery along with her husband, former East Dundee Village President Roger Ahrens, said despite a number of cars that passed by, a Daily Herald reporter was the only person to stop in by 10 a.m.

“We were skeptics, we’re like, ‘It’s not going to snow that much,’” Diane said. “We’re here, might as well keep it open and see if anyone crawls out.”

The Ahrenses, who reopened two weeks ago after closing for seven months, gave their employees the day off but got up early to work on some wedding cakes for the weekend.

One suburban car dealership decided to open and made a sale Wednesday. At Sunrise Chevrolet in Glendale Heights, parts and service staff members used pickup trucks with attached plows to clear the lots of snow. The sales team also reported for work — and even made a sale: one of the pickup plow trucks, said sales associate Rich Drzewicki.

Most suburban chambers of commerce did not open Wednesday.

Norma Vazquez, executive director of the Aurora Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said at least one member business opened though. The Office Depot at 2302 Indian Trail Road opened when an employee arrived at the store about 8 a.m.

“I’m surprised (she) got there,” Vazquez said.

Most other business owners in the chamber decided not to venture out of their homes and open their businesses, she said. “My neighborhood is buried. The plow hasn’t come yet,” Vazquez said about 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Daily Herald writers Anna Marie Kukec, Elena Ferrarin, Jameel Naqvi, Chris Placek and Marie Wilson contributed to this report.