If an emergency store costs 10% more to run, and emergencies are only 1 day in 10,000, then prices during emergencies would need to be 1000x normal for it to make business sense.
Unfortunately anti-price-gouging laws wouldn't allow that, nor would you manage to keep law and order in the shop when telling customers that a bottle of water is gonna cost them 2000 dollars/euros.
“This is our core task and a responsibility we take on, and we also believe that it is timely […] that we – like other countries – prepare for possible crisis situations, which a good and constructive dialogue with the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness has also confirmed. We hope that this will not be necessary, but should it happen, our customers can count on us.”
https://www.esmmagazine.com/retail/salling-group-advances-wo...
From https://benevity.com/resources/corporate-social-responsibili... "CSR increases customer retention and loyalty: Research shows that 87% of Americans are more likely to buy a product from a company that they can align their values with, and over half of all consumers are willing to pay extra for a product if they’re buying from a company with a sturdy CSR strategy."
I applaud this kinda thing.
In a sensible world, that'd mean not just positive PR alongside the actual social utility, but also maybe the government being a bit more encouraging when it comes to taxes etc.
Plus, who knows, if they stock up a bunch on canned goods and still need to sell them in a reasonable amount of time, it might lead to a few good discounts here and there and also be a good thing for the regular consumer.
Aside from that, having a generator and accepting cash payments just seems like good common sense stuff to do.