GARDEN CITY, Mich. (WXYZ) — For Fred Kandah, almost every customer phone call starts with the same question and answer.
He’s the owner of Excel RC in Garden City, the largest drone retailer in Michigan. This week’s weather has been nasty, forcing him to close early due to the roads, snow, and lack of customers. But today, he decided to stay open.
There's been slow foot traffic, but Kandah has between 100 and 300 online orders to fill every day, and weather is presenting a big challenge.
He says he's had issues with shipping UPS, Fed Ex and USPS all being unable to get to his store front, or being tremendously late, with delays on packages.
On top of that, he’s been forced to operate with a skeleton staff, several employees hitting their own weather woes. But while Excel RC is open, 7 Action News surveyed some other store fronts in Garden City close. In one plaza, 4 out of 5 small businesses were not operating.
Big business also took a hit today, Metro Detroiters facing a shut down at Partridge Creek mall due to extreme cold, along with Top Golf in Auburn Hills and the Detroit Opera House which canceled tonight's performance of the Phantom of Opera.
Check an updated list of businesses closed due to the weatherhere.
