Residents Cool Down in Silver Spring; Great for Business

Silver Spring residents who don’t have power have been hanging out in downtown since Saturday. Many of the businesses have welcomed residents to cool down or grab a snack including Starbucks, McGinty’s Public House, Ben and Jerry’s and Potbelly’s.

McGinty’s Public House, located at 911 Ellsworth Dr., is one of the many downtown businesses that usually has power during outages because it has a back up generator.

Greg Whelan — co-owner of McGinty’s — said many people came to the restaurant during the weekend and are still stopping by.

“People are just kind of coming in and charging their phones or getting online. All and all people have been happy to be in the cool breeze,” Whelan said.

Whelan says the outages have brought a 50 percent increase in business this weekend, excluding the additional business gained from the European soccer game Sunday.

On a Saturday, the restaurant usually would have about 300 to 400 people, he said. However, because of the storm Whelan estimated it was over 800 people who came to the restaurant throughout the day.

Jared Finch, 27, is one of the many residents in Silver Spring who don’t have power. He stopped by for a snack from McGinty’s Monday afternoon.

“I wanted to grab a real meal instead of odds and ends. I might see a movie or go to Starbucks and charge up my laptop. I’m just getting out of the heat and lack of lights,” Finch said.

Finch also described how he and his girlfriend were surprised when they came home from their vacation Friday. His whole neighborhood was out of power.

“When we got back we saw downed power lines, trees were down and we actually missed some branches,” Finch said.

To cope with the heat, they have been with friends in College Park, but says a blow-up bed is killing his back and he has to get a good night’s rest at home despite the heat.