Small local businesses excited to reopen

LOS ANGELES - Unless you are Amazon or a supermarket, just about every business has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With that said, few businesses have been as badly affected as the small shops that depend on foot traffic. Even with online business sites and creative marketing, family owned stores in districts like Venice’s Abbott Kinney, Santa Monica’s 3rd Street, or Magnolia in Burbank have been hit hard, very hard.

“Opening up for pickup works for a restaurant, but not when your usual customer is walk in who gets to touch and try out stuff” says one exasperated store owner, who quickly adds “but I’ll take anything, at this point."

It’s those small businesses that lost out on the first federal assistance offers, and barely made it into the next round before the fund ran out.

How are they doing on this first weekend of reopening in Los Angeles, even if it’s just for pick up outside their entrances?

On Saturday, not many small stores were seen open, but those that tried it exhibited grit and the kind of "give it your all" spirit that may, hopefully, inspire some buyers to shop there.

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