WHAT:

Punxsutawney Phil came out on Tuesday and saw his shadow, revealing six more weeks of winter. It seems the weather for this weekend will live up to his predictions. As football fans anxiously await Super Bowl weekend and begin to stock up on party supplies, a snow storm is approaching. With heavy snow (possibly in excess of 12 inches) expected between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning in the mid-Atlantic region, and moderate to heavy snow anticipated to hit southern states, what does this mean for retailers and other corporations with supply chain operations? If they are not properly prepared, a storm could force several sites to close. For food and beverage retailers especially, this would significantly impact their inventories for Super Bowl party shopping. This also poses a significant challenge for budgeting for snow. Most companies that have a large footprint in the Mid-Atlantic region, have exceeded their snow removal budgets for the year if they don’t have a seasonal, fixed-cost contract. For example Philadelphia is already 30% over the 10-year average for snowfall. Washington D.C’s snowfalls were even greater. USM, one of the nation’s largest facilities maintenance and management solutions companies, with expertise in snow and ice management, is already prepared for the blizzard and is on call for each of their clients at various sites within the storm’s path. USM’s emergency project management teams can quickly respond and mobilize their crews, helping to make Super Bowl weekend a safe and enjoyable one for consumers and businesses alike.

WHO:

Six of the top ten national retailers depend on USM to uphold a consistent brand image and improve their customers’ in-store experience with facilities maintenance and management solutions. USM delivers non-core, yet mission critical interior and exterior facility services to over 80,000 client sites throughout North America in various industries with geographically dispersed assets including retail, restaurants, banking, real estate investment trusts, education, telecommunications, and utilities.

WHEN:

Expected February 5–7, beginning Friday afternoon and ending early Sunday morning.

WHY:

It is extremely important for retailers and other businesses to keep facilities updated to ensure a safe atmosphere for customers and staff. This includes all aspects of the facility, both internal and external. If retailers do not maintain safety standards and are forced to close their doors due to bad weather conditions, it can cause detrimental effects in their revenue and reputation, especially on Super Bowl weekend. The potential impact of the upcoming snow storm includes:

• Property damage (roof collapse)
• Increased demand for snow hauling
• Significant threat to stores access, customer experience and revenue flow 
• Material impact on day-to-day operations, supply chain (distribution centers) and profit 
• Highly volatile increase to your budget 
• Slip/fall risk exposure – the average retail store claim was $220,730 (based on cases tried between 1995 and 2003)

For USM and Planalytics’ full report, please visit: http://www.brainshark.com/usmservices/vu?pi=767047904&text=media 

USM has the technology and experience to limit storm challenges for their clients. With support from Planalytics, their Business Weather Intelligence® and state-of-the-art weather tracking technology, USM is able to stay ahead of impending storm systems and remain prepared to meet retail and supply chain needs.