They evactuated my store today.

[Joe the Destroyer]

Spokane has been pretty pummeled by snow this year.  Many businesses have been shutting down early on days, mainly because of the roads.  Now, there is a new threat to business here: snow on the roof.

A grocery store nearby is shut down for a good while because their roof collapsed one evening.  Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, though one shopper did sustain a slight ankle injury.  Not long after that a strip mall collapsed as well.  They actually had rescue crews up there still trying to dig people out.

All of the Wal-Marts in the area have been shutting down, too, except mine.  An inspector came in and said that two of the Wal-Marts must evacuate and shut down due to possible collapse.  The same inspectors told us we were fine to stay open, even though ours still had 5lbs more snow on the roof than what we were allowed.

They called a meeting telling us that we were staying put.  Meanwhile, everyone was becoming anxious.  Even if we were reinforced enough up above, most people were still freaking out about the possibility of being buried.  An hour later, a very urgent page came from an assistant manager, who told us to meet in the break room. 

The instant I heard her say, "Don't panic," I thought, "Yep, we're closing."

They had us clock out and evacuate. 

I was concerned about this junk weeks ago when they were putting my department's freight in external storage.  I had to go out there one day to pull some boxes in and fill some spaces, and noticed that the ceiling in it was bowing.  While getting some out a few days later, we even heard groans and pops coming from it. 

Crazy stuff...

[Andrew]

The natural predator of the big box store is...snow?

The question that jumps to mind is if it is unfeasible to remove the snow from the roofs, or do safety concerns prevent that?

[Raffine]

I recall back in '84 or so we had a really severe ice and snow storm in Northern Alabama. The main casualties of collapsed roofs due to the snow and ice were:

Car dealerships
Chicken farms

[Joe the Destroyer]

The natural predator of the big box store is...snow?

The question that jumps to mind is if it is unfeasible to remove the snow from the roofs, or do safety concerns prevent that?

We actually had people shoveling snow off our roof for two weeks.  Makes me wonder: is the roof really that big, or were these guys really working that hard?  Then again, it did snow a hell of a lot over the last two weeks.

[CheezeFlixz]

I was going to Spokane tomorrow night for business, but after all the snow reports I canceled. I'm not flying all the way across the country to fight snow. I'll stay here where it's 65. 

[Doctor Menard]

The natural predator of the big box store is...snow?

The question that jumps to mind is if it is unfeasible to remove the snow from the roofs, or do safety concerns prevent that?

We actually had people shoveling snow off our roof for two weeks.  Makes me wonder: is the roof really that big, or were these guys really working that hard?  Then again, it did snow a hell of a lot over the last two weeks.

A few things come to mind which prevent shoveling snow off of the roof, at least very effectively.

1) Walmart supercenters are large stores, as big as some store's parking lots. Whether hand shoveling it, or with a motorized thrower, you can only affect so many feet onto the roof before you are just moving it from one part of the roof to another; it's not like a parking lot where you can shove it up into a corner somewhere, it has to go off the roof and that would require moving snow banks over a few hundred feet, without the benefit of machinery.

2) Putting people and equipment on an already snow burdened roof increases the burden that much more, but it is more localized as you cannot spread out the weight of whomever is shoveling the snow.

3) Walmart roofs, as other retail stores, are not perfectly flat. Not only do you have exhaust vents on the roof, perhaps even equipment, but many Walmarts also have a skylight system to supplement daytime lighting. Many such roofs also have an edging; prevents snow and other stuff from blowing off the roof and onto customers trying to enter the store.

[Joe the Destroyer]

The natural predator of the big box store is...snow?

The question that jumps to mind is if it is unfeasible to remove the snow from the roofs, or do safety concerns prevent that?

We actually had people shoveling snow off our roof for two weeks.  Makes me wonder: is the roof really that big, or were these guys really working that hard?  Then again, it did snow a hell of a lot over the last two weeks.

A few things come to mind which prevent shoveling snow off of the roof, at least very effectively.

1) Walmart supercenters are large stores, as big as some store's parking lots. Whether hand shoveling it, or with a motorized thrower, you can only affect so many feet onto the roof before you are just moving it from one part of the roof to another; it's not like a parking lot where you can shove it up into a corner somewhere, it has to go off the roof and that would require moving snow banks over a few hundred feet, without the benefit of machinery.

2) Putting people and equipment on an already snow burdened roof increases the burden that much more, but it is more localized as you cannot spread out the weight of whomever is shoveling the snow.

3) Walmart roofs, as other retail stores, are not perfectly flat. Not only do you have exhaust vents on the roof, perhaps even equipment, but many Walmarts also have a skylight system to supplement daytime lighting. Many such roofs also have an edging; prevents snow and other stuff from blowing off the roof and onto customers trying to enter the store.

Indeed, though my store isn't a supercenter.  It's what they call a "division 1," which is Wal-Mart lingo for "obsolete design that gets treat like the bottom of the Wal-Mart food chain."