Cold weather, icy roads and snow storms are challenges for Northeast Ohioans, and for businesses in downtown Kent, these challenges are no different.

Ben Miller, assistant store manager at entertainment store The Exchange, said checking on employees during severe weather is a precaution the business takes to prepare for harsh winter days.

“[In the mornings] we’ll see how the roads are looking and send a message out to both the people at the warehouse and the employees just to make sure everybody’s looking like they can actually make it in that day,” Miller said.

Miller said salting the roads is another necessary precaution.

“Come in a little bit early, put some salt out, scrape all the snow and everything, get rid of any icicles and then just kind of go as far as when we can get people in if we can,” Miller said.

Miller said parking can be an issue for customers on bad weather days.

“The people who are supposed to clear out the parking lot typically don’t do a great job of that,” Miller said. “They’ll kind of scrape everything to the center and that makes it so people can’t park, so that’s been one of the things that’s difficult about our location.”

Justin Priest, floor manager of Buffalo Wild Wings, said the business runs slower in the bad weather.

“It’s definitely a lot slower because people aren’t wanting to drive out in the snow,” Priest said. “We generally do probably a good two [to] three thousand dollars less than [regular] business during the bad weather days,” Priest said.

With the rise and popularity of food delivery apps, people are finding it convenient to order from home to stay off the roads. Priest said DoorDash orders happen more frequently in bad weather.

The Exchange also has a considerable shift on the type of business it receives during bad weather. The Exchange sells movies, games, cd’s and more, and people can bring in their own items to trade. However, Miller said people are more likely to do sales than trades during bad weather.

“On days when there’s bad weather, we get a lot more sales done than we do trades because nobody wants to haul their stuff in here when the weather’s that bad,” Miller said.

Despite the challenges of bad weather, The Exchange still experiences steady sales.

“With the college kids being back after break, our business has been pretty steady,” Miller said, “so we’re never really dead on those days.”

Aaron Cousin is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].