As El Nino rains pummel Los Angeles, businesses that rely on L.A.’s typically sunny weather to keep customers coming back are bracing for a battering.

Outdoor malls, stores and eateries face being especially hard hit with sales sliding as shoppers stay indoors.

But there is hope for businesses that adapt to the conditions by ramping up trade in new ways.

“If you’re depending on having foot traffic come in the doors, can you continue to provide your product or service without having the doors open? Can you take online orders instead? Can you take phone orders?” said Chris Wright, president of the Business & Industry Council for Emergency Planning & Preparedness in Van Nuys.

With uncertainty looming, one business that is adapting is Loteria Grill in the Farmers Market next to the Grove in L.A.’s Fairfax District.

To offset the dip in customers, chef-owner Jimmy Shaw is expanding delivery service and tweaking the menu to promote warm comfort foods such as tamales and soups.

“It’s a great time to sell umbrellas and rain jackets but it’s also a great time to sell soup,” he said.

During Tuesday’s storm, the power went out at the Farmers Market for several hours. Loteria cashiers added up checks by hand and served a limited menu. In the evening, they decided to close early.

“The sky is our ceiling,” said Shaw. “When we have bad weather, we suffer.”

Emergency planner Wright recommends businesses create contingency plans to deal with power and Internet outages or delayed suppliers.

“In some cases, the cost to put certain countermeasures in place are not cheap,” he said. “But if you’re going to lose thousands of dollars or more, maybe that investment is worth it.”

Stormy weather

El Nino means business. The rains are expected to continue on and off all the way to spring.

According to weather data firm Planalytics Inc. of Berwyn, Penn., a moderately rainy week generally knocks down store business by 2 percent to 5 percent. A week with heavy rain could send sales tumbling 8 percent to 15 percent. And on any single day with heavy rain, sales could slide by as much as 20 percent to 40 percent.

Last Tuesday’s storm notched a record of 1.61 inches, more rain than in October, November and December combined, according to the Weather Channel.

That’s not good news for outdoor malls but it is for indoor ones such as the Beverly Center.

“It really does help our business,” said the mall’s marketing and sponsorship director, Susan Vance, commenting on a weather forecast for two weeks of showers. “I don’t want to say we’re just here when it rains. But two weeks is a lot of time. You will naturally see a bump in business because of that.”

Tour buses like to schedule stops there because they won’t need to reroute if it starts to rain, added Vance.

Meanwhile at Westfield Corp.’s Century City mall, Natasha Kassar, a clerk at women’s clothing store William B + Friends, watched the rain pummel the walkway outside her deserted store and said, “This is monsoon weather. It’s a joke. These outdoor malls, they’re not really built for the rain.”

Sunny outlook

Across the mall at Riginals Children’s Boutique, clerk Luz Mendoza said the shoppers who do turn up during the rain are often serious about buying something.

“If they’re going to walk in the door, it means they’re here for a reason,” she said. “Sometimes when it’s raining, we make more money than on a normal day.”

Citadel Outlets in Commerce doesn’t count on losing any customers to the rain because many are out-of-towners hunting for deals.

“Our tourists come from all over the world, and the weather does not get them down,” said spokeswoman Chelsea Hartnett.

Still, the outdoor complex of 130 stores is taking extra measures, such as putting down sandbags. On rainy days, shuttles will carry shoppers from their cars to the stores and the center will post use social media to advise shoppers where to park and what to wear to best endure the weather. The center’s Kipling store opted to give a rainy-season sale of 20 percent off on umbrellas.

Plenty of vendors feel optimistic that sunny skies will shine through the clouds more often than not.

“It’s business as usual, umbrella recommended,” said Rich Kerlin, manager at Monsieur Marcel, a French restaurant in the Farmers Market sheltered only by an awning. Some evenings, an accordionist plays French tunes there, creating an al fresco dining scene straight out of Paris.

Other vendors there gave Angelenos credit for toughing out rare days of freezing weather.

“People came over the holidays, when it was really cold, so I don’t think the rain will stop them,” said Raul Baltazar, manager at hot sauce shop Light My Fire.

During the last El Nino in 1997 and 1998, showers and flooding in California caused 17 deaths and more than a half-billion dollars in damage.