\It's an ice cream emergency!"" proclaimed Roberto Luna-Llanes, owner of Coldstone Creamery, 427 State St., following the power outage which brought many State Street businesses to a near standstill.
Though the outage Monday afternoon lasted two hours and twenty minutes, local State Street businesses were thrust into a minor state of emergency as cash registers shut down and money-and ice cream-were lost. Luna-Llanes had to transport his ice cream to other stores.
""If we don't get [the power] back soon, we'll have lost thousands,"" said Wayne Wessels, general manager of Buffalo Wild Wings, 529 State St. Wessels added Buffalo Wild Wings lost more than $1,000 two years ago following a Friday night power outage in which three blocks on State Street lost power.
Assistant Buffalo Wild Wings General Manager Eric Stanton said employees poured beer by flashlight.
The darkness also wilted the roses at Roses-R-Red, 502 State St., and part-owner Diane Doughman said though the store remained open, business was basically ""dead,"" except for candle sales.
""I gave a Subway employee two candles in return for two subs,"" Doughman said. ""I also sold four candles to a woman and we're hoping to sell more.""
The University Bookstore remained open, though it conducted business in an unusual fashion as employees had to complete each sale by hand because the cash registers were down, according to bookstore President Pat McGowan.
McGowan, however, did not think this outage would effect business long-term.
""This would have been a big deal had it been the first day of class, but we're doing OK,"" McGowan said. ""It's just more difficult because selling items can be hard when you can't see.\
