RUSTON, Wash. — Bert Dollente has been in the restaurant business for over ten years, and having a location on Ruston Way is a big move for his business. Dollente’s Ruston location for Kamaaina Grill is right on the waterfront.
“We’ve been blessed, man, I can’t ask for anything better than that,” Dollente said.
But after heavy rain, business has slowed to a crawl.
“You might as well stay at home and play with your thumbs, man,” Dollente laughed. “That’s how bad it is sometimes. Thank God we have delivery options, that helps a little bit, but I prefer the weather to be a lot better.”
According to the National Weather Service, forecasts predict Thursday’s rainfall to set a daily record.
So much rain at a time when days are supposed to be getting sunnier and drier has once again put many businesses that rely on foot traffic on their heels, struggling to stay open.
Paul Kunitsa has been running Waterfront Market at Ruston as general manager for almost a year and says it’s a familiar feeling.
“It’s been difficult. I mean, that’s not even the right word for it,” Kunitsa said. “It’s been horribly difficult for businesses to stay afloat and to operate at full capacity.”
While rain is expected living in the Northwest, Kunitsa says seeing so much this late in the season is unusual.
“Going into May, you start to get some good weather, and quite frankly, we just haven’t seen that this year,” Kunitsa said. “Especially going into June, we don’t really see this much rain in June ever. I mean, not as far as I remember. It’s really different.”
But after two years of ‘different’, Kunitsa hopes small business owners can keep pushing forward because sunny days are coming.
“People put their blood, sweat, and tears into this stuff, and it’s important to stay positive and understand your hard work does mean something, these products are important, and once all this stuff goes away and get some better weather, it will come off the shelves,” he said.