PURCELLVILLE, Va.– The blizzard was especially rough for many small businesses in our region that had to shut down for days.
At LoCo Joe Coffee in Purcellville, Virginia, December sales were not as strong as usual, thanks to the mild weather.
“Those 70 degree days were not the perfect days for grabbing a hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and cozying up on our couches,” says owner Juanita Tool.
Then came the January blizzard, which dropped more than 30 inches of snow in Purcellville.
The shop closed early last Friday to make sure employees got home safely, and stayed closed last Saturday and Sunday — typically LoCo Joe’s busiest days of the week.
“We probably lost half our revenue that week,” Tool says.
LoCo Joe reopened on Monday, and business has started to come back, but in mid-morning hours instead of early morning.
“Since they cancelled all the schools and they cancelled the federal government, nobody was getting up early,” says Tool.
Despite the setbacks, Tool is looking ahead.
“You can’t cut back because then you affect your customers. So you’ve got to still keep as many people on staff, and still offer the same stuff or else you’ll lose your customers. There’s really not a way to cut back. You have to forge forward and up your customer service game, make sure your coffee and your products are good, and people come back.”
Now that the storm is long gone, Tool has a simple request.
“Support your local businesses. We don’t have millions of dollars or billions of dollars in corporate backing from our headquarters in some other state. It’s just us.”
Her shop is known for serving Ceremony Coffee of Annapolis and Swings Coffee of Alexandria, as well as New York style, kettle-boiled bagels from Royalicious Bakery of Charlestown, WV.
