MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Parts of SE Wisconsin saw upwards of 12 inches of snow over the weekend.

Most of the snow hit the area on Saturday, which was also Small Business Saturday, a day designed to highlight the small businesses across the country.

The owners at Mainstream Boutique in the Third Ward and Ruckus & Glee toy store in Wauwatosa say they saw a significant drop-off in customers.

“Compared to last year’s figures it was about four to five-thousand dollars that we were down,” Mainstream Boutique owner Jeanette Dvorak said. “That’s a lot of money for a small business owner. That can pay your rent, that can pay your payroll for two weeks.”

Dvorak says they had to close early, and had deals and specials planned for the day.

“That’s our biggest day of the year and that’s what’s so hard for a small business owner to take, because you kind of plan for that day,” Dvorak said.

Ruckus & Glee owner Matthew Poulson says in 2024, they had their biggest sales day ever on Small Business Saturday.

“We saw half as many sales as we did the year before,” Poulson said. “When the weather started really hitting in the mid afternoon, it slowed down significantly."

Poulson and Dvorak both know that sometimes, their plans are no match for the winter weather in SE Wisconsin.

“With small businesses, you can never make that up, the weather is not on your side,” Dvorak said.