Although New York City was hit by a record-setting snowstorm yesterday, many business owners braved the weather and opened their doors for those few New Yorkers able to travel in the snowstorm.

A steady stream of customers filed into the Home Depot store on West 23rd Street, looking to purchase snow equipment, shovels, and salt remover.

“We sold out yesterday of the handful of snow blowers we had,” the manager of the Home Depot, John Lebinski, said. While the store had sent much of its snow equipment to cities that had been hit hard earlier in the year by winter storms, he said, “we do have quite a bit of supply of shovels and salt. We were ready for this despite the mild winter we had.”

Some city residents made their way through the wind-blown snow to make it to the handful of hardware stores that were open.

“We had about 25 people come in today,” the manager of Garber Hardware in the West Village, George Shoen, said. “I am sure there will be more people coming in tomorrow. People usually don’t come out when it’s snowing and blowing.”

In Washington Heights, the two feet of snow kept many people from venturing out, but not everyone.

“It’s been a steady flow today,” the manager of Westside Hardware Store, Dario Lopez, said. He said about 20 people came in for shovels and salt. “People wait until the last moment anyway. I am sure that a lot of people are waiting until tomorrow to deal with the snow,” he said.