Power outages affected several businesses around Christmas. | facebook.com/oncor/
Power outages affected several businesses around Christmas. | facebook.com/oncor/
Power outages that hit just before Christmas made things difficult on small businesses in North Carolina, especially retailers.
"Friday, being the day before Christmas Eve, was a very important day and from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. being without power was really, really bad,” said Deidra Thompson, owner of Dynasty Furniture and the N.C. Art and Antique Mall, according to a WFMY report.
Rolling blackouts did not stop customers from coming, though; Thompson said she had to turn away shoppers because the stores couldn’t carry out business as they didn't want customers wandering through unlit stores and they couldn't ring up sales.
In Winston-Salem, a downed power line started a grass fire, and as repairs began, Thompson had to shut her doors again.
"So many people were off today, and we had to turn them away and it's just really heartbreaking to see people want to shop with you and not be able to,” Thompson said.
When the lights finally came back on, she and her employees went back to work. The workers had to make up for lost time by preparing to ship online orders, which make up a big chunk of the store's income during the holiday season, according to WFMY.
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