The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
BEING FLEXIBLE
In order to survive, small business adapt due to virus
“We instantly changed and adapted because I knew you can’t rely on people to come walk into your store anymore.”
The novel coronavirus pandemic has forced businesses to adapt in order to survive, but there is still a positive outlook as Lorain County businesses are making the adjustments.
“Obviously, Small Business Saturday (Nov. 28) is a huge
thing despite what the governor (Mike DeWine) is doing,” said Tony Gallo, president of the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce. “Ultimately, if we keep getting sick people, that’s not good for the economy either, so I think there is a real fine line.”
Gallo said the businesses that are surviving the pandemic have been flexible.
— Judy Recknagel
“I think the businesses that have been promoting themselves well through the eight or nine months of the pandemic with social media and doing things uniquely, whether it’s delivery or curbside pickup,” he said. “They will continue to do OK that way. We’ve said the ones that have done well before, during and after are the ones that will do well no matter what the situation is.
“I don’t want to make light of (the pandemic), these businesses have done a great job promoting.”
Gallo said it’s important for the local communities to support the small businesses however they can.
“I think these businesses that really get it know that their employees need to be safe too,” he said. “I think if we really stick to buy local and support local, that is what it really boils down to.
“If everyone picks up their phones and starts shopping on Amazon because they don’t want to get sick,” he added, “we really need to remind them that it’s important to help the small businesses, and the businesses need to tell their own story.”
Gallo said The Mermaid’s Tale, a women’s boutique store in Amherst, is a great example of how businesses have had to adapt.
“Businesses like Mermaid’s Tale have done a fantastic job of telling their story and letting people know that they’re there,” he said. “Mermaid’s Tale and other businesses have been good at saying that they can get customers what they want, and find different ways to help them.”
Gallo said a lot of businesses have had to add online components.
“There are some that
didn’t have online, and there are some that didn’t have gift cards,” he said. “But, we have also had eight or nine months to kind of get prepared for this too, so I think the ones that will do well are the ones that have been good at adapting and adding online. But, folks should do what they can to support local. We are in it together.”
Judy Recknagel, owner of Mermaid’s Tale, said it was very rough at the beginning of the pandemic.
“I laid everybody off, March 18, and that was probably the hardest day of my life,” she said. “I told them all to go home and file for unemployment and they were able to get that.
“Then I started to wrap my head around what I was going to do to just stay in touch with my customers,” she continued. “I just decided to bring some merchandise from the store and show it to people via Facebook. We already had a texting program in place through our website, and I had it set up to go to my phone. I already had that in place.
“My e- commerce site was not up and running, it’s actually behind my website...it’s in process.”
Recknagel said cell phones have become a major part of how Mermaid’s Tale does business.
“The videos from the kitchen table led to people texting me and web chatting with me about the items they wanted to buy,” she said. “In the past, I wouldn’t even allow cell phones on the floor because we didn’t need them. Now, we have to have them on the floor because that’s how we interact with customers.
“People started talking about the Facebook videos, and they would text me items that they would like to buy,” she added. “That got me through the two months.”
Recknagel said she has since reopened with six
people allowed in the store at a time, but a lot of her customers continue to use the online methods.
“When I reopened, May 12, my customer wanted me to continue with the videos, so I did,” she said. “The videos are posted to Facebook Live and YouTube, and they instantly go to my website. I would say that all of that social (media/online) counts for about 30 percent of my business at least; it’s substantial.
“We all come in and we’ve been chatting with customers overnight about what they want, so we just come in, look at our phones and pick out the items,” she added. “We then offer delivery and curbside pickup.”
Recknagel said she will be able to make up her losses from earlier in the year.
“I had a big nut to crack with the money I lost while I was not open,” she said. “I didn’t know if I would make it up, but at this point I’ve almost made it all up. My projection for the store is I feel I will end up flat or a little bit up for the year, which is a miracle.”
Recknagel said the pandemic has almost completely changed how she does business.
“The Facebook and the social media was key,” she said. “The way we do business...we don’t do anything the same anymore, it’s all different. We’re much more savvy when it comes to doing business over the phone now.
“We instantly changed and adapted because I knew you can’t rely on people to come walk into your store anymore,” she added. “Those days are over. You look at all the business Amazon does with online, and I don’t see them as a conflict. It’s a great way to do business and I feel I can learn from them.
“It has really made things easier for us, and it has allowed us to survive despite the circumstances.”