In The News

  

Houston stores facing flood devastation

Supermarket News

By: Jon Springer

$1B impact on retail already, analysts estimate.

Hurricane Harvey, the first Category 4 Hurricane to make U.S. landfall since Charley in 2004, is poised to have the same, if not larger, economic impact.

Hundreds of food stores remained closed across Texas Monday as the area dealt with continued flooding and heavy rains from Hurricane Harvey — a storm expected to have an historic economic impact.

The weather intelligence firm Planalytics said Monday it already estimates Harvey has cost Texas retailers more than $1 billion in lost sales. It said Harvey would likely be among the top five or 10 most expensive disasters in history for retailers and rival the economic devastation brought by the last Category 4 hurricane to make U.S. landfall, Hurricane Charley, in 2004, which had a $15 billion impact.

The economic impact of the storm will come into better focus over time, Planalytics noted. The company said initial assessments indicate restaurants have taken the biggest hit of retail businesses as they do not make up for lost traffic. . . .

View original article.