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Small businesses across the country which struggled to cope with the pandemic. From lockdowns to social distancing orders, they had to scramble to find alternative solutions. However, following the collapse of Satou Investments and the following economic fallout, many small businesses are now facing threats of shut down.
In particular, the F&B industry is badly affected as supply chains collapsed and containment measures forced the closure of physical outlets.
One such example in the industry is Suki’s, a bakery located in downtown San Francisco which has barely been kept afloat for the past year.
When Natsuki Toshiko and Sayori Kobayashi first opened their doors to Suki’s late 2017, patrons rushed to try their well received cupcakes and cookies.
When the pandemic came though, Suki’s had to close their doors to comply with stay at home orders and the pair had to switch completely to online deliveries to sell their pastries.
‘The switch to relying solely on deliveries was extremely challenging.’said Ms Kobayashi. ’We had to work closely with delivery services and ensure that the food we delivered was of the same quality as sold in store’
Thanks to their efforts, in early 2021, they experienced earnings for the first time in a year and Suki’s was well on the road to recovery. That was until the stock market crashed in March
Business came to a standstill as the number of customers on both physical and online fronts dwindled. As prices for ingredients skyrocketed, Suki’s struggled to stay afloat and now, the business recorded a net loss in earnings three months in a row
’It's very hard to keep up with the world’.Ms Toshiko ‘One day, your business is thriving and the next, a crisis hits that threatens everything that you’ve ever worked for. I really do hope more people come by soon,’
It is not just F&B sector that is struggling to cope with the economic downturn over the past few months. The retail sector has also been heavily ravaged by the crisis as many chains struggle to sell their products in an unforgiving market
Razor Rose a Virginia based vintage record shop was forced to indefinetely shut down three of their four branches after a streak of recorded losses for the company.
‘After dealing with the economy for the past year, we had no choice but to downsize,’Crispin Williams, the owner of Razor Rose said to the press. ‘The current climate is very unfriendly towards businesses like ours for the foreseeable future’
But hope for these businesses is coming on the horizon as Congress is near passing President Biden’s 1 trillion stimulus package to help American small businesses in particular to stay afloat, in addition to the 1.7 trillion relief package passed in March. When passed, $500 billion would be allocated to small businesses such as Suki’s and Razor Rose to assist them in managing through the crisis.
‘The Biden Administration hopes that the stimulus package passes as soon as possible’, a White House official said on Tuesday. ‘Businesses around our country need assistance desperately.’