By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-950587.mp3
Dallas, TX – North Texas has been counting on a week of pre- Super Bowl parties and events to fill hotels and restaurants. But the unexpected snow and ice may mean cash registers aren't ringing up the sales they'd expected. KERA's Shelley Kofler reports.
It's 2:00 pm at Love Field in Dallas and limo driver Jay Reese is holding up a sign with the name of a Pittsburg passenger he's waiting to meet.
Reese: Delayed
Reporter: How long?
Reese: He was supposed to arrive at 9:00 o'clock this morning so I would say five hours now.
Near Reese a board announcing schedules showed nearly all incoming flights delayed or cancelled. Ice and five inches of snow had closed Love Field for nine hours. Southwest Airline had added extra flights for Packers fans from Milwaukee and Steelers fans from Pittsburgh but those flights were delayed at least 5 hours.
Every rental car desk at the airport advertised available cars. Victor Green at one desk said the weather had slowed business.
Green: People have not been coming because of the weather but hopefully that's going to change today.
Fans like Bill Renz who landed at DFW airport Thursday felt lucky to have made it.
Renz: Actually I have a lucky charm over my head. We flew in from Harrisburg to Charlotte, Charlotte to Dallas. No issues but the friends I am traveling with flew different airlines and are all delayed.
Renz however, couldn't get a taxi at DFW because cabbies were on strike, protesting the city's push for new natural gas cabs. Renz took a shuttle to his hotel and says he was glad to live through it.
Renz: They're not used to driving in the snow and ice so it was a little stressful. I'm from the North so I know how to handle this weather but some of these folks need to practice.
This weather resulted in some merchants remaining closed. Attractions like the Sixth Floor Museum chronicling the legacy and death of John F Kennedy didn't open. The Dallas Symphony called off its Friday night performance.
A marketing study predicted an economic impact of more than $611 million dollars, the most ever for an NFL championship game. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert says he knows the unexpected blast of winter has thrown a cold blanket over Super Bowl business.
Leppert: This does impact, clearly. With the weather you can't get around to get to the restaurants and shopping that we had hoped was the case. And we do have some challenges trying to get people into town. So I think everyone is feeling good about the controllable aspects of what the host committee did, but the weather does affect it.
But on the corner of Wolf and Maple in Dallas, the Stoneleigh P Restaurant was humming.
Garrison: A lot of damn Yankees in there.
Reporter: Super Bowl fans?
Garrison: Definitely.
Restaurant owner Tom Garrison says fans checking into the Stoneleigh Hotel across the street have been wandering into his restaurant joining regulars.
And though the Super Bowl hoopla may be delayed by the weather Garrison expects the weekend thaw to pack em in.