Get All Access for $5/mo

Southern Hospitality: Home Depot, Chick-Fil-A and Others Open Doors to Snow-Stranded Drivers As a snowstorm turned Georgia and Alabama into a scene out of a zombie movie, businesses lent a helping hand.

By Kate Taylor

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

It only took a few inches of snow to leave thousands of drivers stranded across the South, as inaccurate weather predictions and lack of planning led to backups lasting hours in Alabama and Georgia. Thankfully, there were businesses willing to extend some Southern hospitality to the marooned drivers.


Motorists, including parents attempting to pick their children up from school, buses full of students, diabetics and one woman who gave birth in the back of her car, were stuck – many overnight – without food, water or shelter.

With emergency vehicles struggling to reach those in need, individuals and businesses took it upon themselves to help in any way possible.


Related: Franchise Players: An Auntie Anne's Franchisee on the Importance of Seeking Advice

Home Depot quickly turned a number of its stores into shelters on Tuesday night. The Atlanta-based company kept 26 stores open all night long across Alabama and Georgia.


Grocery stores, including Publix and Kroger, had plenty of floor-space, as uncomfortable as it may be, to offer to drivers stuck overnight, along with much needed food. Stores reopened in the storm to provide bathroom, food and shelter. CVS and Target also offered opened their doors to fatigued and hungry drivers.


Chains such as Chick-Fil-A and convenience store RaceTrac offered food to motorists stuck for hours in the cold. A Chick-Fil-A outside of Birmingham, Ala. handed out hundreds of sandwiches for free along the highway, while RaceTrac is offered free coffee, cappuccino and hot chocolate in all Georgia stores up until 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

While the weather outside may be frightful, it's nice to see businesses willing to extend some Southern hospitality when communities need it the most.

Related: How to Stay Calm in a Crisis

Kate Taylor

Reporter

Kate Taylor is a reporter at Business Insider. She was previously a reporter at Entrepreneur. Get in touch with tips and feedback on Twitter at @Kate_H_Taylor. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Side Hustle He Started in His College Apartment Turned Into a $70,000-a-Month Income Stream — Then Earned Nearly $2 Million Last Year

Kyle Morrand and his college roommates loved playing retro video games — and the pastime would help launch his career.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

A Former Corporate Lawyer Now Makes Six Figures on YouTube — Here's How She Does It

Here are the secrets to starting and growing a successful YouTube channel, according to a YouTuber with millions of subscribers.

Growing a Business

How to Determine The Ideal Length of Your Marketing Emails Your Customers Will Actually Read

Wondering how long your marketing emails should be? Here's what consumers say — so you can send them exactly what they like.

Business News

Y Combinator Helped Launch Reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox. Here's What I Learned From Its Free Startup School.

The famed startup accelerator offers a free course on building a business — and answers five pressing questions for founders.