By Julie D’Aloiso
Saturday the July 27th at 10:54 am, I got a Nixle notification on my phone from the Macedonia Police Department (you can sign up at nixle.us) about a power outage in the area. Another Nixle came through at 11:15 am indicating that the traffic light at Rt 8 and Macedonia Commons was out.
At 1:00 pm I had planned on going shopping at Walmart, but decided to go to the India Food Fair first. I spent a good hour enjoying the festival (see picture here) and then headed over to Walmart. The parking lot was almost empty and I spotted employees near the doors of the store alerting everyone that the store was closed due to the power outage in the area. They had no idea when the power was going to be restored.
So I was curious as to how many stores were out. Kohl’s was also closed and after walking most of the Macedonia Commons, I found out that stores along the way were either closed or operating on backup power. In some cases that meant cash only or a slow going credit card approval system.
There were reports that power was popping off and on in Northfield Village and some hints that a transformer had blown, but nothing we could confirm. The power was restored hours later in the Macedonia Commons.
I wonder how much retail shopping was curtailed that day. European Wax Center, which has not been open long, had to cancel a good amount of appointments that day. And Saturday is a very big day for their bottom line.
I joked with people I found along the way walking the commons, that maybe we should shop on Amazon today.
I wonder if there was a surge in online ordering that day similar to baby booms nine months after a power outage at night.
