Mounds of snow are getting higher and higher in many Glastonbury parking lots, covering spaces and interfering with some merchants' ability to do business.
"We have no parking spots left out here," said Jen Cooper, of Emily Rose Style Group on Welles Street in Glastonbury.
She said some clients have to trek from the lot at Whole Foods across the street.
One pedestrian said she wouldn't be going into any shops after walking in the slush.
"It's crazy, walking," said Daiva Pettit. "My boots right now and my pants are muddy."
Other people out on foot don't like it much.
"We do not go out when it's bad," said Deb Morgan. "We were just saying we feel bad for the store owners. We know it must be bad for business."
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Bicycles don't sell often out of season, but Cycling Concepts has hopes for its bikes with wide tires, fat bikes.
"Currently we're selling fat bikes so that's a big draw. You can ride those in the snow, on snow, sand, whatever," said Ed Rhoden.
Some products sell better during the winter than you might suspect – frozen yogurt, for example. At Sweet Frog, it matters which day of the week a snowstorm hits.
"If we have to close on a Saturday, that's not good for the store," explained employee Amy Campbell. " If it's on a Monday, it's not so bad, because we're already a little slower."
A sign shop is struggling with supplying stickers that will stay on because they don't work in cold weather. Bizwiz owner Kelly Dotson has a solution for that in the works: a heated garage in Rocky Hill. But first she has to get through storm-tossed sales.
"It's definitely been slow," she said. "Phones aren't ringing and people are hibernating at home and trying to stay safe so, yeah, it hurts."
