Mendota Heights Area Businesses Push Through Snowy Season

Minnesotans are emerging from one of the snowiest winters on record. We've  strained our backs shoveling out driveways, gripped with white knuckles to brave the slippery roads and wondered at the pure landscape of a fresh-fallen snow. 

Amidst an already-trying economic time, some area businesses have experienced the negative side of a winter that kept people at home during the ninth snowiest season on record in the Twin Cities, according to the Minnesota Climatology Working Group. Snowfall totals through March 6 came to 78.3 inches.

“We’ve had snow on the ground like this since November,” said TK’s Coffee owner Tony Koury. “Weather, with our demographics, affects business.”

Koury said at least 15 percent of his customer base are “snow birds” or those who relocate to warmer climates for the winter. He added that most of the population around his business, at River Bluffs Center in Lilydale, are of retirement age.

“If the weather gets really bad,” he said, “they don’t come out.”

On a good day, TK’s Coffee will see roughly 50 customers, according to Koury. But inclement weather will cut his customer visits in half.

“It’s no fun to be here by yourself,” he said.

While Koury has never closed his business for a full day due to snow—there was a time this December when he closed early in anticipation of a bad storm—Tuesday Morning, on Highway 110 in Mendota Heights, closed twice this season due to snow, according to manager Kathy Thompson.

However, Thompson said she’s not worried about business.

“I think we’re holding our own,” she said.

“It’s a little slow, but at the end of the week it all ends up the same,” said Greg Barnholdt, owner of Greg’s Barbershop on Highway 13 in Mendota. 

Barnholdt said his business definitely slows down with a snowy day, but the clear days make up for it. The only time he closed his barbershop due to weather, he said, was for the infamous Halloween snowstorm of 1991.

“I’ve always found a way to get here, and you’d be amazed how many people find a way,” he said.

Pastor Bill Watson, of the Revelation Christian Center International in Highland Park, is one who makes it out to TK’s Coffee despite the snow.

“I kind of have to be out in it,” he said, adding most of his business and interests are in the area.

However, Watson said this year he noticed fewer snow plows and salt trucks on metro roads.

“The road conditions have been some of the worst that I’ve seen,” he said. “Businesses have been affected by the snow.”

When it comes to his own congregation, Watson said he has seen a 20 to 25 percent decrease in church participation due to the wintry weather, though he has yet to cancel a Sunday morning service. However, his church has cancelled Bible study and weeknight services.

Watson’s church has been proactive via email to announce to his members when something is cancelled and only encourages attending service if people feel safe to venture out, he said. This sentiment was echoed by Koury.

“You don’t want people to be unsafe,” Watson said. 

While Koury said he has seen a decrease in business from his regulars who don’t feel safe braving the snowy roads, he said he has less drive-by traffic because people can’t see his business above the mounds of snow on the boulevard.

“For new customers, they can’t even see us because of the mountains of snow,” he said. “If you can’t see us, you’re not going to stop. You’re not going to come in.”

The worst of the winter weather may be over with a forecast reaching into the 50s, giving storefronts and shoppers a breath of relief. For many, it's none too soon.

“I’m over it,” said Thompson.