Several local business owners have been looking forward to some cold weather to help them move their winter inventory.
With the warm temperatures lately, you may have noticed stores have plenty of winter weather gear in stock. Those coats, hats and gloves have not been flying off the racks and shelves as expected, because of the unseasonably warm weather we've had.
That's not good news for retailers.
Many clothing stores have been holding on to their winter weather inventory, hoping for a drop in temperature. They said all is lost. The warmer-than-usual weather has still been good for business.
The wet weather downtown on Broadway has looked anything but inviting. Instead of winter weather, tourists said they're getting Florida-like weather, which tends to come with a lot of rain and temperatures in the 70s.
Lisa Linton’s family was visiting from Florida and said she was hoping for something much different.
“We were hoping for snow,” she said.
Many retailers in Hillsboro Village were also hoping for snow - or at least colder temperatures so they could sell all the cold weather inventory that's been collecting dust.
“Everyone's like, ‘I can't believe it.’ It’s like 70 degrees and it's December,” said Taylor Hockaday, who works at Festivity Boutique.
Hockaday said it has mostly been tourists from up north who were buying all the coats and the sweaters.
Taylor said the warm weather overall has been good for business.
“It's been definitely good for business because there's been a lot of foot traffic. People are out walking around,” she said.
Shoppers might not be buying what retailers would like them to, but they're still buying. Shops have been optimistic there was still time to move their inventory.
“Once the weather changes and we get that cold front coming through, this winter merchandise will move a lot faster,” said Hockaday.
This may not be the winter weather tourists were expecting to see, but if they want to see snow they could always head over to Mike's Ice Cream and Coffee Bar.
“It might as well be summer. That's what it's been like. It's been like a line out the door for a few days now,” said Mike’s worker, Luke Hardy.
This rainy Florida-like weather has them reaping in the benefits too.
“The ice cream business is good,” Luke said.
Several restaurant owners said business has been good because of the warm weather. There are more people going out to eat and all of this is of course good for our local economy.
