• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 30, 2012

While it’s way too early to predict how badly Sandy’s strafing of East Coast retailers will be, initial forecasts are grim.

“The longer the power is out, the more retailers and their stores will be impacted,” a spokesperson for the National Retail Federation tells Marketing Daily in an email. “Some companies will see increased traffic with people looking for shovels, generators, blankets and other essential items, but others who have had to shut stores or who are based in towns where people cannot leave their homes will certainly see a difference in their October and even early November sales.”

Meanwhile, “store losses for the eastern U.S. from Atlanta to Boston are probably $350 million a day, but could be as high as $500 million a day,” Walter Loeb of Loeb Associates, tells Women’s Wear Daily,

with lost retail sales at New York City stores could exceed $30 million a day.

National chains, like Macy’s, are still trying to sort out the mess. While its New York and New Jersey stores remain closed, “stores in other parts of the East Coast (such as those in the Washington, D.C area) have begun to reopen, some as usual at 10am, and others through the course day,” a Macy’s spokesperson tells MD, also via email. “We have no reports of any significant damage nor of any injuries to associates. It is impossible to estimate lost sales until we know how many will be open/closed and the timing of reopenings.”