Trying to keep up with Fresno ‘see-saw,’ even unauthorized small businesses prepare to reopen
Some Fresno businesses are scrambling to reopen Monday and are grateful for new guidance from city officials after a stint of confusion.
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand on Tuesday evening outlined which businesses could reopen with restrictions in the first phase of reopening the city’s economy during the coronavirus pandemic. The guidance came four days after Brand extended the city’s shelter-in-place order until May 31, momentarily crushing the hopes of business owners eager to ramp up operations.
Stanley Grosz, president of Horn Photo, created a safety and reopening committee with his staff to prepare for Monday. The restrictions businesses must follow, such as social distance guidelines and sanitation, are doable, he said.
“We’ll do anything,” he said. “We’re desperate to get open and be able to service our customer base.”
Camera and electronic equipment stores are included in the city’s first wave of authorized businesses.
Since his business shut down, Grosz estimates he lost about 84 percent of sales. He laid off 20 of 24 employees and only kept on four part-time. Horn Photo has continued printing and shipping out products, but Grosz had to shut down the film machine.
Friday’s announcement from the mayor about the extension of the shelter-in-place order sent Grosz into a panic. He sent home a cleaning crew he hired to prepare for reopening.
“It was a depressing weekend,” he said.
After Tuesday’s announcement, for which he’s thankful, he said he feels he’s on a see-saw.
“We go to bed every night not knowing what we’ll wake up to,” Grosz said. “We’re really looking forward to being able to sell Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras again like Best Buy has been doing this whole time.”
Consignment shop: When?
Even those not on the city’s list of “authorized” businesses are preparing for reopening since guidelines appear to be quickly changing.
Gwynn Clark, the owner of Repeat Performance consignment store, said she’s slowly bringing staff back to get her store on Van Ness Avenue in the Tower District ready for customers. They’ve cleaned the store top to bottom and applied a fresh coat of paint. They have signs about social distancing ready to post and masks to sell.
City leaders “could hold a press conference today and say we can reopen tomorrow,” she said.
Clark said there’s a disparity in how small businesses and big box store have been affected by restrictions. Her store could likely do a better job of keeping customers socially distanced than Walmart, Clark said.
“It’s very hard for us to remain closed when places like that are open,” she said. “I don’t think they’re fair and equitable decisions.”
She said it has been frustrating watching city leaders make new rules for residents, such as wearing facial coverings, but not following the rules themselves.
“I’m trying to be a good citizen, but I’m a pissed-off good citizen,” Clark joked.
Relief funding
Before many small businesses can even think of reopening, they need relief funding, said Dora Westerlund, CEO of the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation, which serves Fresno’s Hispanic business community.
“They’re calling me saying, ‘We need funding for a grant.’ They’re looking for free money,” she said. “They need the cash so they can keep on going with their business.”
She said many Hispanic businesses were unable to apply for the federal Paycheck Protection Program or got scammed, paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in applications fees to bogus fronts.
The foundation has helped many business owners create websites or market their products and services on social media.
Now, they’ll help those businesses prepare for reopening. The foundation is working with the city to create a webinar in Spanish for business owners.
“Some small businesses are so eager to open, they are going to follow those guidelines,” Westerlund said. “From our perspective, we want to make sure they’re in compliance.”