OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Severe weather Saturday morning damaged tents and destroyed inventory at the Omaha Art Fair and hurt revenue at the Omaha Farmer's Market, leaving some small business owners with significant losses.
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Adam Weiss, president of the Omaha Art Fair and a professional artist who has been selling at art shows for 20 years, said this storm was new experience.
"I've never had anything like that storm that came through the other day," he said.
According to Weiss, the sudden high winds quite literally shattered some artists' livelihoods. Glass and ceramic artists were hit especially hard.
"My tent is rated for 65 MPH winds and it was a little stronger than that yesterday, so instead of tent I'm just kind of utilizing the garden art area," Weiss said, pointing to his metal art, displayed in a neighborhood planter instead of a booth.
The financial toll on some vendors was severe, he said: "So, some of these artists lost two months to an entire year's worth of production with that storm, unfortunately."
Across Center Street, vendors at the Farmer's Market said the storm hurt their bottom lines as well. Olivia Smith, who works for Big Kahuna Lemonade, said the business felt the impact immediately Saturday morning.
"Until about 11:30 we didn't have any sales."
Smith said the effects extended beyond her own business to others at the market, pointing out food stands who were also at the farmer's market on Saturday in the Old Market.
"I know that there's local restaurant owners that, like, buy produce from the markets and so it's hard when they're weather stuff that gets in the way," she said.
Big Kahuna Lemonade does not have a brick-and-mortar shop, making events and farmer's markets essential to the business.
Weiss said a fundraising effort is planned for artists who lost significant inventory in the storm.
"So, as artists we know how to persevere," he said. "Sometimes it's just part of the business where you have to re-do things a little bit and make it work."
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