'For a small business, it's a big hit:' Uniontown pizzeria struggling to resume operations after severe weather
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (KDKA) - Thousands of people across Westmoreland and Fayette counties remain without power following severe rain and winds on Friday, and it's not just households feeling the impact, but local business owners say they're struggling as well.
One of the hardest hit areas was Uniontown, where despite getting power back, is staying closed until further notice.
One after another, Gio Schiano opens the refrigerators at his restaurant, 2G Brothers Pizza.
"This was all full of freezer items; usually, it's packed to the gills," Schiano said. "This was all dressings, salad dressings."
They're empty. All the inventory inside them was thrown away after heavy winds and rain ripped through Uniontown late Friday afternoon through the evening.
"There's no revenue, you know; there's nothing in there to sell," Schiano said.
The pizza shop went dark around 4:45 p.m. About an hour later, the fire alarm started going off. It didn't take long before they realized the power wasn't coming back on anytime soon.
"Turns out it was more serious than what we could see," Schiano said.
Saturday was a waiting game until they got a call around 10 p.m. that the electricity was up and running.
"When we came in, all of our refrigerators were about 75 degrees, so anything in there had to be discarded," Schiano said.
They tried to salvage as much as possible, but most had to go, including about 100 pounds of wings and various sauces and soups.
Schiano estimates a loss of $5,000 worth of inventory in addition to regular sales.
"For a small business, it's a big hit," Schiano said.
However, they'll get by, just like they did during the early parts of the pandemic.
"It could always be worse," Schiano said. "We're just going to take it as it is and keep pushing through, keep chopping, and we'll get through it. Gone through a lot of other stuff, so we'll get through."
Schiano said they're also in the process of refunding customers who didn't get their orders.
Right now, they hope to reopen on Tuesday.