On any other frigid Monday in January, Charmery ice cream shops would have served cones, shakes and hot chocolate. But the Baltimore-based business closed its five locations for the day.

Max’s Taphouse in Fells Point, which normally closes on winter Mondays, did the opposite, opening the bar for a snow day.

They were among Baltimore-area businesses scrambling to adjust to the season’s first snowstorm, which the National Weather Service said dumped about 5.8 inches of snow at BWI Marshall Airport by 1 p.m. on Monday. Another 1 to 3 inches were expected in the evening in Baltimore and farther south.

“We are open seven days a week, typically, and we are closed because of snow,” David Alima, co-owner with his wife of Baltimore-area Charmery shops in Hampden, Towson and Columbia, said Monday. “It really comes down to our employees and their safety. I’d love to be open and serving ice cream, but so many of our employees rely on public transportation and their own transportation.”

Alima said he and his wife made the decision Monday morning, when he realized, “This is like a real snow. We haven’t had one of these in a while.”

At Max’s in Fells Point, it has become a tradition over the past few decades to open up on “snow days,” if an employee can safely make it to work, said Gail Furman, co-owner of the family-owned tavern.

“They safely got there, it was a walkable situation for them,” Furman said Monday. “With people working from home, with kids and noise, people can come in and work and use the Wi-Fi and enjoy themselves in peace, and still have a beer or cocktail if they’d like.”

Max’s snow days have been popular over the years, she said, because many customers live in the neighborhood or nearby and within walking distance. Several came in Monday after a noon email blast inviting people to “Spend your snow day with Max’s Taphouse. We are open now ’til whenever you stop coming by for beer.”

Business slowed down elsewhere around the region as schools, government agencies and courts closed for the day and officials asked people to avoid driving to allow crews to clear roads.

Some workers came in during pre-dawn hours to stock Graul’s Market in Annapolis, but by mid-day, in one of the region’s harder-hit areas, the store opted for an earlier-than-usual 4 p.m. closing. One employee said only two cashiers and a manager made it to work and “we haven’t had many customers at all.”

In Catonsville, some workers got to jobs at Panera Bread in the morning only to turn around and leave when it was announced that the eatery would close because of the storm.

“Our top priority is the safety of our team members and guests,” a Panera spokesperson said in an email. The spokesperson declined to answer questions about how widespread closures were as the storm battered the Mid-Atlantic.

A Giant Food spokesman said all stores remained open on Monday, “and we continue to serve our customers during the snowstorm.”

At Waverly Ace Hardware in Baltimore’s Better Waverly neighborhood, business had slowed down a bit Monday from the weekend, when shovels, sleds and ice melt sold out or came close to it, said Nathan Shaw, a manager. Only one pallet of ice melt remained from the most recent delivery of eight, he said.

Shaw said enough workers were able to get to work to open the store on time at 8 a.m.

“We have a lot of people who walk,” he said.

The snow, however, kept the warehouse from making an expected delivery and the store expected to close about four hours early.

“If we had more shovels, we’d still be selling them,” Shaw said. “We’re always busy when it snows. It helps during a slow time of year.”

Have a news tip? Contact Lorraine Mirabella at lmirabella@baltsun.com, 410-332-6672 and @lmirabella on X.