Much of the Maritime economy ground to a halt on Tuesday after a blizzard descended upon the region.
Many stores, businesses and government offices closed early or didn’t open at all as snow blanketed the region.
In Saint John, banks were closed and even the city market threw in the towel, with vendors closing up shop around 8:30 a.m.
“Based on weather conditions it was best for us to close,” said Kevin Loughery, manager of the Saint John City Market.
“We wanted to make sure that staff and customers are staying safe.”
In fact, few of the vendors were expecting to see many customers in the first place.
“You hear the news and all they’re saying is closure after closure,” said vendor Bob Baleman.
“The buses are coming off around 10 a.m. so that pretty well limits the traffic uptown,” he said.
It’s not often retailers tell their customers to stay home, but Tuesday was one of those days.
“We want to encourage people to be alive so they’ll come back tomorrow,” said vendor Liam Freill.
“Today is just not necessarily the best day to do retail or any kind of business,” he said.
There was some money being made amid the wintry conditions, however. Private plows were out in force — but even they were struggling.
“I actually used to drive a snow plow for the city and I’ve never seen it this bad before,” said Steve Anderson, a plow driver working in Saint John.
Most of the major malls around the Maritimes didn’t open at all, and city halls across the region were closed as well.
In Halifax, conditions were bad enough to close many shops, restaurants and retail outlets, though a handful of businesses kept their doors open.
“You know, it’s not that bad out there. It’s definitely snowing but nothing like we had last year,” said local retailer Zac Barkhouse.
In New Glasgow, N.S., a disappointed Jim Stone discovered that even the liquor store had closed in the face of the blizzard.
“They’re all closed in northern Nova Scotia. We’ll have to survive without it,” Stone said.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.
