NEW YEAR, NEW HOPE
Public health and economic recovery top priorities.
In 2020, the South Bay underwent a slew of upheavals: major protests, a rise in the need for food and rental assistance and a newfound reliance on video and digital communication platforms. As 2021 brings in the promise of a vaccine and renewed hope for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, residents, business owners and community leaders share a cautious optimism that 2021 may contain a light at the end of the tunnel.
For many San Jose residents, the new prevalence of virtual communication — in large part supported by San Jose-based Zoom — is something they wouldn’t mind continuing even if the pandemic abates.
“I really hope we’ll be able to get together in person in 2021,” District 6 Councilmember Dev Davis said in an email. “A bright spot of online meetings has been the participation of residents and business owners who normally don’t have the time to attend in-person meetings. We’ve seen a lot of new faces and heard new ideas and perspectives.”
In 2020, Davis co- authored the measure that fast- tracked restaurants looking to establish outdoor dining. She said economic recovery is one of her top priorities for 2021, along with public safety.
“Our community has rallied together to help local businesses by seeking out and buying more local products,” she said. “I hope that focus on our local economy at the individ
ual level continues after the pandemic.”
As part of this effort, Mayor Sam Liccardo recently launched a #ShopLocalSJ campaign to encourage residents to spend their money closer to home.
Business struggles
Despite this rallying, many local businesses closed their doors for good in 2020, Santa Clara County actually had one of the highest business closure rates in 2020. Linda Ruiz, president of the Willow Glen Business Association and former owner of Park Place Vintage, made the decision this summer to close
the shop she had owned for 38 years.
She had a new lease sitting on her desk when the store closed its doors. “I was going to retire anyway in 2020, then I thought I wasn’t ready,” she said. “But then the coronavirus convinced me it was time.”
For most of this year, she’s been able to focus on her role as president of the business association. Although she’s held the role before, she said this year was “uncharted territory.” She’s been trying to keep everyone updated on evershifting COVID-19 regulations and available grants. She said there’s not much
else they can do.
“Immediately all goals shift to survival,” Ruiz said. “We’ve been trying to plan things and having to cancel because things were changing weekly or even daily.”
She said the business owners she works with are, for the most part, optimistic about what 2021 may bring.
“People are hopeful but with reservations as to how long it’s going to take. They’re thinking, how long can I hang on?” she said. “This is people’s income. I know people are struggling. I can’t sugarcoat it. People are struggling.”
Hicklebee’s children’s bookstore in Willow Glen felt the strain earlier this year, when they launched a crowdfunding campaign to help bridge the gap caused by lost business. Co- owner Valerie Lewis said 2020 has been “high and low.”
“We’ve had tremendous support from our community that just knocked us out,” she said, adding that in 2021, some things may remain the same, including connecting with customers online, with recorded book previews and author events. But her biggest hope is to get people back into the store.
“To me there’s nothing that matches walking in a bookstore and pulling a book out and touching it,” she said. “Having someone walk in and ask for a book and you know just exactly what you want to give them — that energy — those are the kind of things people can’t see, but they’re really important.”
That said, she’s in no rush to bring people together in person before it’s safe. “There’s always a lot of discussion of business,” she said. “Well, business is important, but it doesn’t trump the health of the community.”
In neighboring Campbell, business owners are feeling a similar strain. Lisa Pelg r im, who co - owns Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop with her husband, said 2020 has been “incredibly difficult.” She said sales are down by half.
“At the end of 2019, we were so strong,” she said. “When we started 2020, it looked like it was going to be our best year ever. Then March 16. Boom, everything changed.”
With declining sales, she said the hardest task has
been making rent. “We can scale back on staff and our time, but to be able to sell enough product to make rent is a whole other story,” Pelgrim said.
The shop is considered a small grocer, so it’s been able to stay open during the most restrictive parts of the pandemic. But she said that hasn’t kept the “teeny tiny” store from an uncertain future. “I don’t know how long we’re going to survive,” Pelgrim said.
The store has been experimenting with delivery services and gift packages, and Pelgrim said they’ve seen a slight increase in sales during the holiday season. But in terms of how 2021 will pan out, “it all depends on how fast this stuff resolves,” she said.
Amy Lee-Elrite, owner of The Bagel Bar, opened up the storefront on East Campbell Avenue in 2018. She said overall, business has been OK during the pandemic. But because The Bagel Bar is so new, it’s been hard to weather such an unexpected storm.
“We poured all of our resources into starting the business,” Lee-Elrite said. “When you start a new business, you expect to have a couple years where you’re not necessarily taking that big of a paycheck as it is. Then to be hit with something like this — for us, when we were finally seeing the growth — and to just kind of be taken down drastically was hard.”
Lee- Elrite was able to take advantage of a couple of business loans and remain relatively flexible, sharing outdoor dining spaces with other nearby restaurants. She said she think s businesses that are able to get creative with things like communal outdoor dining spaces will have a leg up in the future.
“We’re treading water for this year,” she said. “As far as what we see for next year, I’m hoping that the lockdowns dissipate, that next year is really a year of rebuilding and growth for our business and a lot of other businesses that were able to survive.”
Local performing arts groups have had a unique challenge to navigate in 2020, being unable to bring in audiences under even the laxest COVID-19 restrictions. Lisa Mallette, artistic director at San Jose’s City Lights Theater Company, said the company’s goal for 2021 is to keep the staff together and to keep engaging audiences. “It’s interesting how clear our true priorities become when in a crisis,” Mallette said.
A year ago, she added, her plan was to end the venue’s 17th consecutive year in the black. Now, she said, “It’s like trying to plan a budget on quicksand.”
For someone who brings people together for a living, she said it’s been hard to let go of the ways she’s used to doing things. The theater was about to debut a world premiere in March, just before the first round of shelter-in-place orders. Now, she’s focused on “making art where we can and where it makes sense and where it fulfills our mission,” she said.
The theater has had to put the rights to certain shows on hold, and has begun producing audio and video shows. Rebecca Wallace, marketing director at City Lights, had never used Zoom before this year. Now, she hosts a free weekly series called “The Next Stage,” where City Lights hosts play readings, dance classes and interviews.
“It’s been fun to connect with our audience in a very intimate way,” Wallace said. “We’ve had people come to the virtual events who have never been to City Lights.
“I do feel optimistic when I see all the innovation that’s going on in our industry,” she added. “It’s been exhausting and so deeply sad to see all these theaters close, but I’m hopeful.”
Reconstructing education
San Jose schools have also had to completely redirect to online programming. San Jose Unified School District has been entirely online since March, and while it seemed earlier this year that they may be able to welcome students back onto campuses starting in January, steadily rising case counts in Santa Clara County have made the future of schooling more uncertain.
SJUSD spokesperson Jennifer Maddox said district officials hope to set a new in-person target date once the county starts trending toward the orange tier, when the county is experiencing a “moderate” spread of the coronavirus. She said the district hopes to give families about four weeks’ notice before allowing students to return to campus in some form.
“The only thing that’s certain right now is things are going to continue to change,” Maddox said. “There’s a decent chance we’ll be able to welcome students back at some point, but it’s unclear how long it’s going to take for us to swing back out of this.”
She said during 2020, district officials worked to make distance learning as sustainable as possible while also preparing for some students to return.
“I really think this year has forced us to adopt technology,” Maddox said. “It was forced in a very shor t amount of time, which has been stressful for teachers. But the silver lining on that cloud is it has forced us to all move to being a much more modern education system, which i think is to the benefit of everyone.”