Winter Storm leaves Cave City small businesses struggling to catch up

CAVE CITY, Ky. (WNKY) – After days of snow and ice forced businesses across south-central Kentucky to close, small business owners in Cave City say the real challenge is now trying to recover from lost time and lost income.

Several shops and restaurants shut down for multiple days as roads became dangerous or impassable. While most avoided major physical damage, owners say the financial impact of being closed, especially in January, typically one of the slowest months of the year, is significant.

“January is the toughest month for every small business,” said Leticia Cline, who owns Ace Coffee and another downtown business. “Being closed one day impacts this greatly. Being closed multiple days can really make or break a business.”

Cline said her businesses closed around midday Saturday so employees could get home safely and remained shut for several days. Even without losing power, she said some perishable inventory went bad and must be replaced before reopening fully.

At Pourter’s Pub and Kitchen, owner Jonathan Seppenfield said the problem many small businesses face is simple: the bills don’t stop, even when customers do.

“When we shut our doors, the bills keep coming,” Seppenfield said. He said his business was closed for two full days, the first time it had shut down since opening last summer. “Half a day could be whether you pay payroll the next Friday. So two days can be pretty catastrophic.”

Business owners say the storm also affected employees, some of whom lost power at home or were unable to travel because of road conditions.

For other businesses, the impact will linger even after roads are fully clear. Melissa Williams, co-owner of a local shop Replica Screen Printing, said missed deliveries and halted production will create a backlog of work.

“When this clears up, we’ll have a backlog,” Williams said. “We didn’t even get the merchandise in or get the artwork done.”

Owners say while the storm has passed, the recovery for many small businesses in Cave City is just beginning.