TRAVERSE CITY, MI -- The mild December weather is more than bazaar. It’s devastating for businesses all across northern Michigan.
Brick Wheels in Traverse City is seeing a big hit in their late fall sales. They count on snow to support the sale of their snow shoes and Nordic skies.
“We're primarily focused on Nordic, so it really hurts us because most Nordic areas can not make snow,” said owner Tim Brick. “We are down quite a bit from previous years.”
Local plow companies are also feeling the pinch.
A spokesman for Team Elmer’s said they have employees on standby waiting for snow. “For the month of December last year we had plowed 18 times. This year we have not plowed any...that for some of our snow plow accounts is probably a good thing but we have guys waiting and chomping at the bit to get back to work and to plow some snow.”
There is at least one agency that is enjoying the mild weather. The Grand Traverse County Road Commission is racking up the savings this month.
“Well you know, in a large snow storm we can run up as much as $75,000 a day...so it’s really been quite a good cost saving for us,” said Commission Director Mary Gillis. She hopes the Road Commission can use the money they save on road repairs in the summer.
