While you’re staying home, Fresno, don’t forget to support our local businesses
Liz Sanchez’s future is wrapped up in tamales. Like every other small business owner in Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley, she depends on customers coming through the door of her Olive Avenue restaurant and lining up at her food truck.
But what happens for the next few months as people hunker down at home to wait out the pandemic? Will Casa de Tamales, along with who knows how many local businesses, become coronavirus casualties?
We, as a community and a region, have to do our preventative part. During these extraordinary times the onus falls on us to support the restaurants and shops we typically frequent — while adhering to current health guidelines that may seem drastic but are also incredibly necessary.
Bars in Fresno and Clovis have been ordered to stop serving, and dine-in service at restaurants has been suspended. There’s also concern Fresno County will soon adopt “shelter in place” policies adopted Monday in seven Bay Area counties, which could force so-called “non-essential” businesses to close.
“It isn’t a little scary, it’s a lot scary,” said Sanchez, who recently deferred her mortgage payment, credit cards and PG&E bills.
“I am leveraging everything so I can keep my doors open, and I am certain I’m not the only one that’s doing that.”
During conversations with a dozen or so owners of small businesses in the Tower District and Old Town Clovis — restaurants, breweries, deli’s, cigar shops, antique shops, barber shops, clothing boutiques, furniture stores — each expressed some anxiety along with the hope their livelihoods won’t dry up.
“The small businesses are the ones people forget about,” said Joel Lopez, owner of Perfect Blend Fine Cigars in the Tower District. “Just gonna hope for the best and see if people come in.”
Lopez had a handful of regulars in his store Monday around lunchtime. A couple doors down, International Furniture was completely empty save for owner James Minas and one employee.
“The governor told people to stay home if you’re over 65. What am I going to do?” Minas said. “We don’t do Amazon and all that garbage.”
Across the street, Piemonte’s Deli owner Nancy Eberwein expressed thanks for food delivery services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats. Without them, she would have likely had to close the doors, lay off employees and donate a bunch of perishable food.
The number of people waiting to order or pick up sandwiches was far less than what you’d see at 12:15 p.m. on a typical day, though phone orders were brisk.
“We can even meet someone at the door if they don’t want to come in,” Eberwein said.
How local businesses are adjusting
Small businesses from downtown Fresno to Old Town Clovis are busy adjusting to new health guidelines. Which doesn’t only mean frequent hand-washing as well as regular disinfecting of door knobs and handles, credit card machines, anything a customer touches.
At the Tioga-Sequioa Beer Garden, that meant closing off the entire seating area during what would normally be a crowded St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The brewery even produced a special beer called Lucky 99 for the occasion.
Now, though, Lucky 99 will only be sold in 32-ounce cans called crowlers. Until things return to normal, all beer must be purchased to go and enjoyed off site.
“We want to supply beer to people while making sure we value the health of our customers and employees,” assistant manager Will Compton said.
Meanwhile, on Pollasky Avenue in Old Town Clovis, Teresa Pries, owner of Revival 23, was preparing to shut down all three of her locations of her women’s clothing and home decor boutique for the next two weeks.
However, Revival 23 will still be doing business during the COVID 19 outbreak. Two employees spent recent shifts expanding the store’s online offerings by photographing dozens of items and uploading them to the website.
“We’ve been working around the clock to ramp that up. I’m the new delivery girl,” Pries said. “I will door dash clothes, candles, whatever people want. If they’re stuck at home and want to feel more like themselves, I’ll drop it off at their house.”
Customers, let’s do our part
While local business owners come up with new ways to keep the transactions flowing — I realize that’s not possible for all of them — the brunt can’t be theirs alone. We, the loyal customer, should do our part to help an economic setback from becoming a catastrophe.
That means not just buying a few tamales but an entire tray and sticking them in the freezer. Or two boxes of cigars instead of one. It means purchasing gift cards, merchandise and stocking up on a few things you may not need right away but will eventually.
Anything those of us fortunate enough to not be facing economic hardship can do to help lighten the pinch on local businesses is worth doing.
“Our customers are very good to us, so we’ve got to be good to them back,” said David Manjarrez, manager of AK Smoke Shop in the Tower District.
For the next several months, more than ever. Support our local businesses.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 3:12 PM.
