WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Blackouts created headaches for a Winston-Salem furniture store over the holiday weekend.
Dynasty Furniture & NC Art and Antique Mall lost power and customers twice since Friday when cold temperatures and wind affected much of the Triad.
It cut into Christmas Eve shopping, owner Deidra Thompson told WFMY News 2's Grace Holland.
"Friday, being the day before Christmas Eve, was a very important day and from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. being without power was really, really bad," Thompson said.
They hoped to make up for that lost time after the holiday. Then, at midday Monday the store lost power again for much of the afternoon. The store was one of about 200 businesses and homes affected.
The city said a downed power line started a grass fire. As repairs began, Thompson had to shut her doors again.
"So many people were off today and we had to turn them away and it's just really heartbreaking to see people want to shop with you and not be able to," Thompson said.
As she told WFMY how she hoped to get customers back before the end of the day, the lights came back on.
With the power back, she and her employees went back to work. Much of their work was preparing to ship online orders. She said a big chunk of the store's income has come from those orders this holiday season.
She also welcomed back in-person customers too. It was a welcome sight as they hoped to reclaim some Christmas cheer.