Some business owners waiting for power to return
As power blinks on at small businesses across Lake County, Philip Grenier sits in front of his wine store on Washington Street in Grayslake, perplexed and a bit depressed.
The owner of Wine Knows said he has done everything he can to let people know his store is open, even though the power is still out at the Washington Square strip mall where he is located across from the College of Lake County.
However, he knows the customers won’t come back until power returns to the unit he rents.
“I did this to try and get people to see that I’m open,” Grenier said, pointing to a sign promoting a wine tasting Thursday. “I didn’t really intend to hold a wine tasting, but if it brings someone in, I’ll open a bottle up.”
Thus is the hardship some business owners face while waiting for ComEd to restore power to areas that spent a fourth day in the dark.
As of 3 p.m. Thursday, ComEd officials said 77,000 customers remained without power, with 62,000 of those in the north region that includes Lake County.
Grenier said it’s not the loss of product that is hurting his businesses, but the loss of customers who drive to places where the power is on.
“At this point, I’ll pretty much do anything to get people in the store,” he said.
However, even some business owners who are back online aren’t feeling any sense of accomplishment to be up and running again.
Bob Bode, owner of Salutos Italian Cuisine in Gurnee, said power returned to his restaurant Wednesday night after three days of being in the dark. He spent Thursday speaking with insurance adjusters and reordering food that was thrown out.
“My insurance company said they would cover up to $10,000 of spoiled food, but I know I threw out more than that,” Bode said. “Until something like this happens, you don’t know just how bad things can be.”
He said the bar in his Grand Avenue restaurant was open Thursday, but he won’t be able to start taking food orders until Friday, and even then, it’ll be on a limited basis.
The business won’t be completely up and running until Saturday at the earliest, he said.
“It’s not just the food, but the lost income that hurts,” Bode said. “Something like this can really put a small-business owner out of business.”
Rob Hardmann, owner of Blarney’s Island in Antioch and co-owner of Blackthorne Grill in Lake Villa, said he is spending hundreds of dollars a day on generators while waiting for power to be restored.
He said the Blarney Island warehouse — where ice and beer is stored — is running off generator power. His Blackthorn Grill was back up running Tuesday because of its location next to the police and fire departments on Grand Avenue in Lake Villa.
“We had a contingency plan in place in case something like this happened,” he said. “We had generators up and running about an hour after the power went out. But, as you can imagine, the cost of a generator is much more expensive during a natural disaster than at other times.”
In the end, though, he said the hardship he went through is nothing compared to what residents and other small business owners endured during the storms.
“I really feel bad for the tens of thousands of people who have had to endure life without power for as long as it has been,” he said. “A lot of people don’t really understand what the residents have to endure at a time like this. A lot of residents (in the Lake Villa area) don’t have water because the power is out. It really is a serious situation.”