Picking up the Pieces: Sandy's Impact on Small Businesses The hurricane devastated homes and businesses on the East Coast this week. Some smallbusinesses rode out the storm; others weren't so lucky. Here's a look.
Our biggest sale — Get unlimited access to Entrepreneur.com at an unbeatable price. Use code SAVE50 at checkout.*
Claim Offer*Offer only available to new subscribers
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The hurricane that pounded the East Coast this week was – in the words of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg – quite possibly "the worst storm we've ever experienced."
As the recovery process begins, millions are still without power, and New York's mass transit system, tunnels and public schools are still shut down. But how did small-business owners ride out the storm?
Here is a look at 15 businesses in the New York and New Jersey area. Some remained open, serving customer's by candlelight, while others secured their establishments with boarded-up windows and sandbags and hoped for the best. Not all made it through – and for countless more, it will be days or weeks before normal operations resume.
Photo Credit: Jessie ShawSandy's Impact on Small Business
An unidentified store in Manhattan's West Village advertised that they remained open despite the power outages, flooding and high winds of Hurricane Sandy.
Photo credit: Andrew Burton/Getty ImagesSandy's Impact on Small Business
A man surveyed the remains of a flooded store in the financial district of New York on Tuesday morning.
Photo credit: Colleen DeBaiseSandy's Impact on Small Business
A small grocery store in New York City's West Village was one of the few open on Tuesday, despite no power and a down tree blocking the entrance.
Photo credit: Colleen DeBaiseSandy's Impact on Small Business
Water damage was a common sight after the storm roared through. Bongo bar in the West Village is located on the West Side Highway, which flooded when the Hudson ran its banks. This shot, looking through the windows, shows furniture moved around and debris on the floor.
Photo credit: Colleen DeBaiseSandy's Impact on Small Business
The Ear Inn, one of the oldest taverns in New York, has weathered numerous storms through the decades. The nearly 200-year-old bar seems to have held up well, perhaps helped by sandbags at the doors.
Photo credit: Colleen DeBaiseSandy's Impact on Small Business
At iPlaza nail salon in Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood, a few blocks from the flooded Hudson river, the employees were shoveling water off the floor on Tuesday morning.
Photo credit: Brendan McDermid/ReutersSandy's Impact on Small Business
Customers and staff drank by candle light at a Greenwich Village restaurant that remained open during the storm.
Photo credit: Joey Boots/TwitterSandy's Impact on Small Business
Businesses boarded up along Greenwich Avenue in Manhattan's West Village on Monday before Sandy hit.
Photo credit: DBS/New York TimesSandy's Impact on Small Business
A Modell's sporting goods sign fell from the building in Manhattan on Tuesday morning.
Photo credit: Martin Fitzpatrick/New York TimesSandy's Impact on Small Business
Abingdon market in Manhattan was open and running by candle light at 11:30 am on Tuesday.
Photo credit: Jake Thornberr/New York TimesSandy's Impact on Small Business
C-town, a local grocery store in Brooklyn's Park Slope, remained open despite boarded windows.
Photo credit: gnanaprakash/New York TimesSandy's Impact on Small Business
A local department store in Jersey Heights, N.J., was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.
Photo credit: Michael Endy/New York TimesSandy's Impact on Small Business
A grocery store shelf in Westfield, N.J., was empty ahead of the storm's arrival at 2 p.m. on Monday.
Photo credit: Caroline Chen/New York TimesSandy's Impact on Small Business
On 101st Street in Manhattan, a restaurant invites customers to "endure Sandy together," on Monday morning before the storm hit.
Sandy's Impact on Small Business
Tony's Pier Seafood Restaurant on City Island in Bronx, N.Y., burned to the ground Monday night in a three-alarm fire as the storm raged. It took nearly four hours to put the fire out due to the high winds.
