Unless they owned a hardware store or operated a tow truck, the past week-and-a-half have probably been brutal on small business owners.
As Kimberly Koenig opened her clothing and jewelry business in Edmonds Thursday, she admitted the past couple of weeks have been lonely.
There were days during the recent snowstorm when there were so few customers in her store the mannequin kept her company.
"I had a friend who asked if I was enjoying the snow days. No! Not when you're a small business owner. Not at all! It's scary," said Koenig, the owner of Rogue Boutique.
Business there was down more than 40 percent because of the storm which left city streets empty and came in the dead of winter -- a time when retail is already quite slow.
"We were gonna have an internal sales contest, and the new contest is -- let's make our rent -- as opposed to beating our year over year," said Koenig.
Down the street at 190 Sunset, the restaurant prepped Thursday for what management hoped would be a swift turnaround.
Business at the restaurant dropped by 50 percent during the storm.
"When you get dealt lemons, you make lemon drop cocktails," joked owner Tom Budinick.
Budinick had to close the restaurant down one day during the storms and held a snowman making contest on his deck to entice people out of their homes.
He hoped Valentine's Day would be the perfect motivator to return to business as usual.
"A lot of our customers are moms, and they are really tired of being stuck home with the kids all week. They are really eager to get out. We think we're going to see that," he said.
Like many small cities, Edmonds launched a "shop local" campaign to build off the holiday and move into the first weekend without snow since Super Bowl Sunday.
Koenig at Rogue hoped shoppers would show small businesses some love and help them dig out of this winter hole.
"I'm always up for a good challenge," said Koenig. "But this is a stressful one."