Running a business in a pandemic
photo courtesy of Instagram @comicbookhideout
Glynnes Speak is the owner of Comic Book Hideout in downtown Fullerton.
Loading ...With COVID-19 keeping us socially distant since early March, many of us have rethought the way we shop.
Students at Middle College have noticed the difference in how they shop too.
Because of the pandemic, buying items in stores has changed the experience for shoppers and for the store owners.
The pandemic has made shoppers more conscious of their surroundings while shopping.
Sophomore Roselinh Crowe says, “COVID-19 definitely changed how I shop. I don’t go in lanes that have people there and I don’t touch things unless I’m going to buy it.”
As well as having effects on consumers, COVID-19 has had major effects on businesses and business owners. Now 79% of small businesses are fully open or partially open. Most businesses that are open do a lot to ensure the safety of their customers.
“I’ve had to set COVID-19 shopping rules. Everyone has to wear a mask and use hand sanitizer (which I provide) upon entry. Also, I’ve had to put up plexiglass barriers at the register and limit the amount of people in the store. I do allow clothing to be tried on and have a quarantine section for the clothing that has been tried on but is not being purchased. These clothes hang for 24 hours before I put them back onto the racks,” said Julie Rasmussen, the owner of Roadkill Ranch, a retail store in downtown Fullerton.
Along with ensuring the safety of their stores, many business owners have had to find new ways to advertise. In a survey conducted in March 2020, it is stated that 89% of respondents made changes to their promotional efforts in response to COVID-19.
Glynnes Speak, who owns Comic Book Hideout, a comic book retail store in downtown Fullerton said, “A lot of our advertising comes from word of mouth. We have really great customer service at the Hideout. So a lot of people are drawn to our location by hearing about it from friends and family so I think by limiting the amount of people that can come in the store that kind of takes away from a little bit of that content.”
Speak also spoke about how she is using Instagram live for sales and promotion.
Another effect of COVID-19 on businesses is how they get their materials.
“The biggest challenge COVID-19 brought about was my inability to restock my store. Being in the fashion industry, the majority of my goods come from LA and NY. LA and NY were still on lockdown even when OC was given the ok to reopen. All of the trade shows were cancelled and vendors were having a difficult time getting their imports from overseas due to all of the travel bans,” said Rasmussen.
With travel restrictions and distributing closures, it makes it harder for small businesses to restock on inventory and get goods that they would normally be getting weekly or monthly.
“Our distributor was also closed down for three months so we didn’t get any new product in that time so due to that it was kind of a forced pause for all of our subscribers and our normal regulars that come in every week to get books,” said Speak.
Peter R. Orszag said in the article “The Pandemic Will Make Big Companies More Dominant Than Ever” that, “Another reason the pandemic will hasten the growing dominance of large companies is that it will push supply chains to become vertically integrated, as larger firms exert more control over their supply and smaller companies in the chain need help.”
Rasmussen said what she believes is needed from consumers in the new shopping era of COVID-19.
It’s important to support the small businesses in your area. The big box stores and corporations will survive, but the small businesses need your patronage more than ever. It’s been the most brutal time and I feel sorry for those businesses who were not able to weather the storm.”
— Julie Rasmussen
I play the guitar, I love documentaries, and my dog shares a name with a college.
I appreciate how the owners are trying to keep us safe as a community. Thank you to all store owners
Great information Andoe. It got me thinking about what store I will shop at during this time.
I think it’s really great that the owners of these small businesses do a lot to keep everyone safe from COVID.
This is an amazing article, I love this article. I am so intrigued by this topic and you answered all the questions I had about this topic. You had amazing information.
The final quote really ties up the message of the article.
What a wonderful article, can’t wait for more. Great Job! 🙂
I think this article fits very well with what we are going through. I really liked how you mentioned opinions of businesses and I really thought that the last quote mentioned everything in the article and tied back everything you had said before. I really enjoyed reading this article. Great Job!!!!! (:
Great job, Andoe! This is very well-written. The pandemic has changed every aspect of our lives, shopping being one of these. I agree with sophomore Roselinh Crowe, when she describes her shopping experience. You included great interviews and information. After reading this article, I am informed and will support small businesses. Great work!
Well written Andoe :). I’m glad you talked about how small businesses were affected in the pandemic because they are one of the groups that have been affected the most.
Excellent topic to write about the whole thing was amazing!!! Loved how you got owner to talk about her experience. Great Job !!
I know that there are a lot of small businesses near my home and they always sanitize their products after closing and make sure people wear masks. I think it is great for keeping people safe and I hope other businesses so the same. I really appreciate the effort they put in to keep their doors open and to keep people safe at the same time.
I like how the quote you picked really gave me a better understanding of the article.
Honestly, it is amazing how business owners are still doing their part to keep the community safe as well as being able to make a stable income during these rough times!
I liked how you had quotes from fellow Middle College students. This article was very informative and enjoyable.
Great job, Andoe! I do think that it is very important to support small businesses, I try to whenever possible.
Andoe, this is a very well written article. When we hear about the virus, we tend to think about ourselves. I like how you changed it up and showed a perspective a lot of us aren’t familiar with. Personally, I didn’t think about how small businesses would be affected by this tragedy. I’m glad you thought about it, and reported on it. It was very interesting and informative at the same time. I like how you added real world statistics in there too. I agree with your sentence at the beginning about how we changed the way we shop. A lot of us are paranoid and want to stay inside, so online shopping is the next best thing. We have all definitely changed the way we shop and go about our day to day lives. This article was an amazing piece on how businesses have adapted. Keep up the great work Andoe!
It’s great to hear that local businesses are trying their best to keep everybody safe. It is important that we help support them as well.
Your article was very informative. I agree small businesses are suffering and more people should know about it. As a community, we should help and support our small businesses.
I like the quote and will stick with it because small business help out a lot of people sometimes a little other times they can be lifesavers but either way they still helped
The article was very good. I do kind of feel bad for the struggle the small business owners are going through.
I really like this article. It definitely can’t be easy to run a business in something as new and crazy like this. I feel for business owners, there will always be people who don’t want to abide by the rules and this could cause owners to lose business in the long run. It’s such a difficult time for business owners and I think we should do what we can to support them.