If the pandemic-induced economic turmoil lasts past Memorial Day, about half of U.S. small businesses could be in danger of failing, survey finds.
Carlos Marroquin dropped wearily onto a wooden bench in the center of the tiny Newhall soccer shop to which he has poured 15 years of his life and all of his resources.
The store was allowed to open, under certain restrictions, last week, but with business down more than 90%, that may prove to be a stay of execution rather than a full reprieve.Thirty-five miles away, in the Mid-City part of Los Angeles, Chiara Arroyo and Celene Navarrette have similar worries. They have already cut half the tiny staff at LA Librería, their Spanish-language children’s bookstore, and used a loan to pay the rent.
“The real question is about solvency,” said Brian T. Kench, dean of the college of business at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. “As the duration of the crisis continues, we are moving away from sort of the happy talk of quick V-shaped recovery into something that’s a little more U-shaped or L-shaped, where the duration lasts much longer.And while each shuttered restaurant or closed boutique is a body blow to its neighborhood, some of those punches will hurt more than others.
It was hard-won knowledge. Arroyo, who was born in Spain and has a master’s in journalism and bachelor’s in philosophy and literature, and Navarrette, a Mexican who teaches information technology at Cal State Dominguez Hills, met when they were assigned to the book-fair committee at their children’s bilingual elementary school.
Back in Newhall, Marroquin, a former youth national team player in his native Guatemala who said he has two short stays with professional soccer clubs in Europe, is more than $9,000 behind on his rent in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Catching up will be tough; Marroquin has already gotten rid of every employee he’s not related to, but since partially reopening a week ago, business is just 10% of normal.
But like LA Librería, Planet Soccer is selling more than merchandise, which would make its demise more painful.
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