By Peter Van Allen, Philadelphia Business Journal

A Philadelphia-area company has come up with numbers to gauge just how much the buildup to last weekend’s near-record snowfall boosted demand for winter wear and soup.

According to Planalytics Inc. of Berwyn, Pa., a company that measures the effect of weather on business, winter wear demand was up by 16 percent last week compared to the year-earlier period. With another big storm expected to roll in Tuesday night, it is expected to be up 147 percent this week.

Soup demand rose by 17 percent last week and is expected t be up 29 percent this week.

On the flip side, snowbound retail chains that bore the biggest brunt of the weather were: The Bon-Ton Stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Aeropostale, Tractor Supply Co., Kohl’s, Jos. A. Bank, J. Crew, Ann Taylor and Lowe’s. And swimwear demand in the Northeast region is down 75 percent from this time last year.

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