Merchants in Philadelphia market grapple with virus
Athens Voulgaridis and his family have run their Greek gyro stand in Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market since 1984, outlasting three recessions and a trademark battle with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
No crisis has hit the business as hard as the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a brief shutdown and slashed sales by as much as 80% at the lowest point. Typically a bustling hub of restaurants, shops and food vendors, the indoor market, which celebrates its 128th anniversary on Monday, stayed open throughout the pandemic. But with conventions on pause, tourism down and much of the lunch crowd now working remotely, foot traffic at the market whittled down to roughly a third of its normal levels. "We were wiped out," said Annie Allman, who took over as chief executive and general manager of the Reading Terminal Market in late January.
Merchants selling meat, cheese and other staple grocery items in one of the country's oldest and largest markets have seen steadier traffic. But restaurants that cater to people in need of a quick bite or visiting the landmarked building located conveniently close to the city hall and convention center downtown were more acutely affected by restrictions on travel and indoor dining to slow the spread of the virus.
Visits to the greater Philadelphia area dropped by as much as 40% last year and spending by visitors was cut roughly in half, according to projections from Econsult Solutions, Inc. The challenges the market's merchants are facing are indicative of the hurdles impeding restaurants, shops and other service industry employers across the country that are seeing slow rebounds as people remain hesitant to travel or spend time close to each other indoors.
"All our customer base has just disappeared," said Voulgaridis, 48, who took over the family business, Olympia Gyro, in 2009 as the economy was coming out of the Great Recession. In 2012, he received a cease and desist notice from the U.S. Olympic
Committee, requiring him to change the name of the business from Olympic Gyro. While sales are improving after the city reinstated indoor dining earlier this year, they are still down by about 65% from pre-pandemic levels, Voulgaridis said.
"This was just taking a knife to everything and cutting the lifeline to everything you've had," he said. The market is surviving thanks to a combination of government aid, fundraising and investments made to its online delivery services, said Allman, the market's CEO. With many vendors struggling to keep up with their bills, organizers raised more than $520,000 to help cover operating costs through a campaign on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe.com and other fundraising efforts.
The market also revamped its online ordering service and introduced curbside pickup. Space for indoor dining at the market ebbed and flowed in accordance with city guidelines meant to slow the spread of the virus.
The dining closures were especially painful for Vanesa Peredo and Alejandro Carabe, who opened their Spanish tapas cafe and gourmet food store in December 2019, just weeks before the first reported U.S. cases of COVID-19.
Their large display of Jamon Iberico, a cured ham delicacy popular in Spain, was a big draw for people in the food court. When the seating went away, so did the walk-in customers they relied on.