Inclement weather usually puts a dent in business — if customers can’t get out, products can’t be sold. And several businesses that closed their doors on Hillsborough Street today experienced that, but those who stayed open stayed busy.

Mike Ritchey, owner of Global Village, said Tuesday was a fun day, with groups of people stopping by for coffee, wet from snowball fights.

“People have been very relaxed,” he said, “This is my idea of fun — if it weren’t, I wouldn’t have opened this place.”

Just next door at Mitch’s Tavern, people crowded into tables to get a drink and watch the inauguration coverage. Mitch’s planned to stay open as long as possible, even though they were short-staffed.

Back at Global Village, Ritchey said the Tuesday morning crowd was slow, but after Barack Obama’s inauguration address, his store filled up with customers. At 3 p.m., three hours before Ritchey planned to close the store early due to the weather, tables were still filled.

Jimmy John’s was also open as normal, and started sending out drivers for deliveries at 11 a.m., when snow was still coming down in sheets.

“We are based out of Illinois. They get a lot of snow there and still operate. They expect us to do the same,” Manager Zac Chambers said.

Business was slow though, according to Chambers, but he said he would arrive at the store at 7 a.m. today to open as normal.

Students who needed a hot meal Tuesday were in luck. Pizza places were open as usual, and Gumby’s, at least, was delivering in droves.

The restaurant was so busy Tuesday evening, that General Manager Rick McConnel tried to refuse an interview with the Technician.

“We’re extremely busy today,” he said. “Except for 45 minutes when the phone didn’t ring, we’ve been sending out orders all day.”

McConnel said the store usually takes in between $200 and $400 on a regular Tuesday, but by 4:30 p.m. it had done $1,400 in sales. Good sales figures don’t matter to McConnel more than safety, however. He said Gumby’s would close if the roads became too icy.

Several restaurants around campus were as prepared as ever to give customers just what they wanted, even in weather conditions all but foreign to Raleigh.

Katelyn Wells, alumna in design, just wanted a warm place to get some work done. Just as usual, Global Village fit the bill.

Wells said Global Village was “cozy” and Tuesday was a good day to hang out in a coffee shop.

“It would have to be extreme weather for us not to come,” she said.

Ritchey is so dedicated to customers like Wells that he said he would sleep in his shop overnight in order to open on time today.

“I am probably going up to Mitch’s to have a few drinks, then I’ll come back down here and spend the night on this couch,” he said, pointing a loveseat that sits in the middle of the shop.

Ritchey said he was worried that ice would prevent him from opening the shop on time. It’s not the first time Ritchey planned to sleep at Global Village — he has done it twice before in his eight years as the owner.  

“There are enough people around here that I would feel responsible and guilty if I didn’t open,” he said.

Later in the evening, as Ritchey closed his shop, he said he was able to change his plan to sleep there in favor of something more comfortable. His nephew, who lives close-by, offered him a bed for the night.

Science & Tech Editor Alison Harman contributed to this story.