Reporter's Notebook | Some businesses see more sales with snow fall

YAKIMA, Wash. — The highlight of last week was asking managers and local business owners how they fared during the recent snowstorms.

It was the perfect excuse to use all the terms and catch phrases from the snowstorm -- Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse and my personal favorite, snOMG (Snow, oh my God!).

But beyond all the fun words, it was interesting to hear that in some cases the snow was actually good news, including for Yakima Fred Meyer store director Dennis Thompson.

For Thompson, the snow helped move snow shovels, ice melt, boots and other winter-related products.

"We wanted snow, because we have snow stuff we buy every year," he said.

It's a bit of a guessing game on how much to order for any given year, Thompson said. Last year, those products were left over. Some of it went back to vendors, but other products went straight to the clearance rack.

This year, the store has sold out of much of its winter selection.

Bon Vino's Bistro and Bakery in Sunnyside also fared better than expected. The day after the snow started, Jan. 19, turned out to be busiest day of the week for the restaurant at 122 N. 16th St., said chef and owner Roger Hazzard.

Many workplaces, such as Hanford, encouraged workers to stay home, Hazzard said. But over the course of they day, they grew tired of being cooped up.

"They wanted to get out of the house," he said. "They just kept coming and coming and they stayed for an hour or an hour and a half."

Not everyone was so lucky, of course.

Both the Yakima and Selah North Town Coffeehouse locations stayed open during the snow, but owner Dave Tompkins said sales dropped by 25 percent to 35 percent, making those days the toughest his shops have seen in the past 12 months.

But Tompkins expects his coffee shops to bounce back easily.

"You have to account that there are going to be a few days like this," he said.

Remodel at Target

The Yakima Target store will soon get a makeover.

Store manager C.J. St. Clair confirmed last week the store will get a remodel featuring an expanded fresh produce and grocery section, part of a the retailer's new Produce Fresh (P-Fresh for short) store format.

The remodel will begin March 26 and a grand reopening is scheduled for late June. The store will remain open during the remodel.

Minneapolis-based Target first introduced the concept in 2008 to two stores in Minnesota and began a nationwide rollout in 2009. In past media reports, executives say stores with the new concept typically saw a 6 percent increase in comparable-store sales.

The remodel will give the Yakima store other new features, but St. Clair said further details were not available just yet.

He was sure of one thing: "It will be so much nicer."

More fro-yo?

Given all the snow and cold we've been getting, frozen yogurt is probably the last thing on your mind.

But it's not far from the mind of Ron Valicoff.

Valicoff said he has plans to convert a mini-storage facility at 4040 Terrace Heights Drive into storefront space. He is working with a tenant who wants to use the space for a frozen yogurt shop.

He wouldn't reveal the shop owner, as the deal is pending.

The planned shop in Terrace Heights would be the fourth frozen yogurt shop in Yakima. TSS Yogurt opened at Westpark Shopping Center at 40th and Summitview avenues late last year. Two others, Yo Yakima at the Valley Mall Annex near Union Gap and Yogurt Shack at the Orchards Shopping Center at 72nd and Chestnut avenues, are in the works.

* Mai Hoang's Reporter's Notebook is published Mondays in the Marketplace section. To reach her, call 509-577-7685 or e-mail maihoang@yakimaherald.com.