With more than a million people without power, a common household item has become a hot commodity: ice.
Mark Resnick, president of City Ice, said his couple dozen employees have been working 18-hour shifts to try and keep up with the insatiable demand. The company makes and distributes bags of ice.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Resnick said. “We had one guy sleep in here the other night. We’ve got to protect the equipment so he stayed in case the power came on.”
Resnick said his company lost power at the Chester plant during the storm and was selective about opening the storage freezer containing hundreds of tons of ice, despite a mob gathering outside.
“People, a bit unreasonable, came to our gate Sunday looking for product,” Resnick said.
Resnick said he was only willing to open it to get ice for hospitals, retirement homes and emergency operation centers.
The Chester plant got power back late on Sunday night, and Resnick said he’s been busy all day delivering to grocery and convenience stores.
“The stores are ordering three times the amount you normally deliver. By the time you do four stores, the truck is empty and you got to come back and get more ice,” Resnick said.
City Ice has 12 delivery trucks, Resnick said. A 10-pound bag retails for $2.29 to $2.49, he said.
They are running through their existing inventory and can’t start making new ice until the melt water is cleared from the equipment.
Overall, Resnick said he’s moving more than 10 times the amount of ice he would during a normal weekend in August. Although that is a big boost to his business, Resnick is reluctant to celebrate.
“Our sales are up, but nobody wants to see this kind of problem in people’s lives,” he said.
With more than a million people without power, a common household item has become a hot commodity: ice.
Mark Resnick, president of City Ice, said his couple dozen employees have been working 18-hour shifts to try and keep up with the insatiable demand. The company makes and distributes bags of ice.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Resnick said. “We had one guy sleep in here the other night. We’ve got to protect the equipment so he stayed in case the power came on.”
Resnick said his company lost power at the Chester plant during the storm and was selective about opening the storage freezer containing hundreds of tons of ice, despite a mob gathering outside.
“People, a bit unreasonable, came to our gate Sunday looking for product,” Resnick said.
Resnick said he was only willing to open it to get ice for hospitals, retirement homes and emergency operation centers.
The Chester plant got power back late on Sunday night, and Resnick said he’s been busy all day delivering to grocery and convenience stores.
“The stores are ordering three times the amount you normally deliver. By the time you do four stores, the truck is empty and you got to come back and get more ice,” Resnick said.
City Ice has 12 delivery trucks, Resnick said. A 10-pound bag retails for $2.29 to $2.49, he said.
They are running through their existing inventory and can’t start making new ice until the melt water is cleared from the equipment.
Overall, Resnick said he’s moving more than 10 times the amount of ice he would during a normal weekend in August. Although that is a big boost to his business, Resnick is reluctant to celebrate.
“Our sales are up, but nobody wants to see this kind of problem in people’s lives,” he said.
This is not the first time he has done this; it is standard operating procedure for Mark. Delivering ice over long distances to aid disaster victims is something of a trademark for City Ice.
As a result he has proved himself to be a humanitarian and a “gentleman”.