The disruption of last week’s blizzard warning wreaked havoc on East Coast businesses and the Berwyn company that helps stores plan for the weather was right in the midst of the action.

Planalytics’ assessment of the storm, estimated by Senior Vice President of Client Services Evan Gold to be between $500 million and $1 billion, was featured in a NorthJersey.com report.

Especially on the slowest days of one of the slowest weeks of the year, “an impact of $500 million, ‘believe it or not, is actually not that large a number when you think about the economy being $17 trillion,’” Gold said in the article. “The problem for many businesses, however, is that the lost dollars aren’t made up after the storm. For a restaurant or coffee shop that was closed Monday night or Tuesday morning, customers aren’t going to come on Wednesday and buy two cups of coffee or two lunches.”

Planalytics employs technology to help companies measure and analyze the impact weather has on sales and inventory costs, then plan and optimize their management strategies.

“A weatherized business can identify and take advantage of weather-driven opportunities, prepare for unfavorable periods and minimize unnecessary expenses,” its website states.

Read more about the weather-related business impact of last week’s blizzard on NorthJersey.com here.
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Top photo credit: Remembering Nemo via photopin (license)