COVID-19 has ravaged the economy, especially small businesses. According to Forbes, the national average of Covid affected businesses is 31%. The accommodations and food service industries were hurt the most at 64% affected, followed by arts and entertainment at 61%. The official number of businesses shut down due to Covid won’t be known for quite some time, however, Yelp found that about 160,000 businesses closed between April and September of 2020, which is about 800 closures per day. So, how are the businesses within Fargo doing?
Some businesses are affected more than others, however, Zandbroz Variety, Unglued, and Kidderbug Kreations were all harmed. Some reasons include decreased consumers and sales, decreased store hours, costly COVID-19 precautions, and an inability to host large events.
Greg Danz, the owner of Zandbroz Variety, said, “Last April and May we were closed. We saw a huge decrease in sales.”
Ashley Morken, the owner of Unglued, saw vast expenses in Covid precautions. She ended up paying about $18,000 to ensure the safety of her staff and customers. This money went towards hand sanitizer, masks (her business has gone through about 2,000), an air purifier, plexiglass, and spray sanitizing machines, which cost about $5,000 each. Luckily, she was able to receive the ND economic resiliency grant (EGR), which provided $8,900, which was used to help pay for the costly COVID precautions.
Anne Kidder, owner of Kidderbug Kreations wrote, “My costs have increased due to shipping costs increasing and costs of my supplies increasing,” and, “It (COVID-19) eliminated all the craft shows last year, which is where most of my sales come from.”
Even before Covid, small business owners struggled to stay competitive with large corporations such as Walmart, Target, and Barnes and Noble. Covid worsened this problem. For example, in the early days, small businesses were forced to close while large corporations remained open. Furthermore, their small staff numbers caused small businesses to take extreme Covid precautions. If one member became sick, then they would have to shut down their business for 2 weeks.
Luckily, not all small businesses in the Fargo area were harmed. Some noticed a minimal effect on their business, while others saw that it helped them. For example, Hannah, who owns Designed By Hannah, wrote in a survey conducted by the Scroll, “After being laid off from my part-time job, I could focus all my energy in my business. It’s fully online as well, and people have been online shopping like crazy.”
Small businesses are used to adapting to the changing world, therefore, when Covid came they were able to make the changes that would benefit their business. Many implemented an online store, local and curbside delivery, and virtual events.
Danz said, “[Creating an online store was] probably something we should have done a while ago.”
Morken said, “By starting virtual workshops, we’ve had people from Rhode Island and Hawaii join… We’ve been asked to keep doing virtual workshops, even from people in Fargo. We will continue this along with future in-person events.”
Therefore, although Covid has harmed many small businesses, it has also allowed many to utilize the growing technological landscape to benefit their businesses for the future.
Small businesses are an important part of the community. They provide jobs, create a unique community landscape, and help the local community. According to Forbes, “Before the pandemic, small businesses with less than 500 employees accounted for two-thirds of net new American jobs and generated 44% of U.S. GDP.” Forbes also believes that small businesses, not mega-corporations, will lead the economy out of the Covid crisis. This makes sense because of the large impact small businesses have on the local community. For example, Hannah wrote in a survey conducted by the scroll, “Every month I donate all the proceeds from a different sticker to an organization in need.”
Furthermore, they are more likely to take actions that would be too risky for larger corporations. During the political unrest spurred on by the killing of George Floyd, a woman approached Zandbroz Variety to ask that they hang up pictures of African Americans killed by police brutality. These pictures were hung in the front windows. Some customers were angered by this and said they would no longer shop there because of the store’s politics.
However, Danz says, “We don’t care what your politics are when you come through the front door. We’ll order you a Rush Limbaugh book if you want.”
Small businesses are also more likely to support local artists. This is Unglued’s main goal. Morken has been able to keep to it, even when tempted to bring new products not made by a local maker.
Luckily, many Fargonians understand how crucial small businesses are to the community and have therefore been very supportive.
Danz said, “Even when we were closed, customers would call us up and see if we needed anything. Long-time customers said they wanted to buy gift certificates to help out while closed. They said, ‘I want to buy a gift certificate. I want you to keep it. Go do something good with it.’ We were able to buy books and bring them out to senior citizens. We were able to donate to food banks. If you treat customers right, it’s amazing how supportive they are.”
There are many ways citizens can support small businesses.
Danz said, “The best way you can support them [small businesses] is by patronizing them.”
Opt for small businesses over larger corporations when possible. Morken said that having uniform Covid measures would help.
Morken said, “It has been very challenging. It was easier when North Dakota had a mask mandate, because everyone knew what to expect when walking into a business.”
Without the mandate, she had difficult encounters with customers, prompting her to have to outlaw people from the shop. She had never had to do this before.
Morken went on to say, “The mayor and council member have heard from people who don’t want it [the mask mandate]. If they don’t hear from people who want it, they won’t renew it… We love people and we love making people happy. It’s really hard when we need to be policing mask-wearing.”
Finally, supporting small businesses on social media is something everyone can do. Like their pages, follow them, and leave kind reviews.
The citizens of Fargo contribute to the social landscape. If you want to live in a vibrant community full of unique small businesses, then the best thing you can do is support them in any way you can.
*Special thanks to Zandbroz Variety, Unglued, Kidderbug Kreations, and Designed By Hannah for contributing to this article.