This summer's unforgettable weather has become an on/off switch for many businesses in the area, some of it good, some not so good.
The hot weather hasn’t brought big crowds to the Christy Creme in Council Bluffs during the day. "It slows down when it gets into the 90s during the afternoons particularly, and soon as the sun goes down it gets busy, so we get busy late at night, but is real slow during the afternoon,” said Christy Crème’s Dave Christiansen.
Things have been busy all the time lately at Ideal Pure Water. The family-owned bottled water company is recording sales as high as the temperatures. “This summer, with all the days above 100 and the drought, we're getting calls like crazy from our customers that are running out of water,” said Ideal Pure Water’s Jeff Platt.
There are a few people putting water on their lawns, but many homeowners have given up. Shutting off the water and letting the sun take over is bad news for Ted Vice, owner of Ted’s Mowers. Very few of his mowers are moving. “Everything got so dry, nobody's mowing so sales are down, service is down. We need some rain.”
Farmers have been crying for rain for weeks. The sun is beating up the corn crop and that means higher corn prices and motorists are beginning to feel that at the pump.
Steve Bartagni owns Ted's Service and says the price of ethanol might continue to rise. “Ethanol is going to go up to where it's gonna be pretty much the price of regular no-lead right now. There's a 10-cent swing where the ethanol gas is cheaper and we won't have that much gap anymore.”
