Major corporations around Minnesota with locations in south Texas have temporarily shuttered many of those operations as Harvey continued to wreak havoc on Houston and surrounding areas.
Richfield-based Best Buy and Minneapolis-based Target each closed about 30 stores in that region over the weekend. Those stores remained closed on Monday and it was unclear how soon they would reopen as heavy downpours were expected to continue in the coming days and many roads are unpassable.
"We're certainly monitoring the situation," said Best Buy spokesman Jeff Shelman. "But the safety of our store employees and our customers is more important than reopening."
Target said it would reopen locations as quickly as possible when it was safe to do so.
"As always, we evaluate our store locations and teams to strike the right balance of providing for the community and staying safe for our team members," Target said in a statement.
Before the storm hit, Target sent extra batteries, flashlights, cleaning supplies and other non-perishable foods to stores in the impacted area. But the flooded roads are hampering its ability to replenish some stores and so the company is holding products at its distribution facilities until the roads clear.
Meanwhile, Ecolab, 3M, Pentair, and C.H. Robinson are among companies that closed their south Texas locations.
"As a global logistics firm, many of our customers' supply-chain operations - both into and out of the Houston area - have been greatly impacted," said Dan Ryan, vice president of C.H. Robinson. "We have extensive contingency plans in place to ensure our C.H. Robinson network helps our customers and contract carriers navigate the situation. All of our employees in the region have checked in at this time; some have been required to evacuate but are safe with friends and relatives."
