COVID and it's Affects on Austin Businesses

COV I D and it s affect on Aust in Businesses

Ezine Fall 2020

Table of Cont ent s

6 Letter From The Editors 8 Movies In The Comfort Of Your Car

by Bahar Aghili

12 Tips For Businesses During COVID-19

by Bahar Aghili

14 Effects of COVID-19 on Austin Parks & Recreation

by Dylan Ramirez COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 4

20 Major Pandemics in Recent History

by Dylan Ramirez

22 Restaurants Close After the COVID-19 Pandemic Hits by Georgia Eckel

26 Staying Safe During the Pandemic

by Georgia Eckel

28 Retail Businesses and How They Are Affected

32

by Matthew Suh

Timeline on the Effects of

COVID-19 to Retail Businesses

by Matthew Suh COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 5

Let t er From t he Edit ors Dear Readers, The Covid pandemic has created many challenges and obstacles for businesses to face. Some might be losing business while others are growing. We wanted to dedicate this magazine to all the hard working owners and their businesses.

In this magazine you will learn about how a few local businesses in Austin have handled Covid. You'll hear about their setbacks, but also get to know how they have grown during the pandemic.

When reading our magazine you will get to know a few tips about staying safe during the pandemic and how to grow a business during Covid.

We hope you enjoy reading about others' struggles during this hardship. It's uncertain times and we know that everyone is doing the best they can to stay healthy!

M p A lo fa is to w

COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 6

My name is Bahar Aghili. I enjoy playing soccer and basketball. I have a passion for cooking and painting as well as playing the piano. My favorite colors are aqua, lavender, and magenta. I love any kind of sweets, especially cheesecake and donuts. I have three younger brothers. My favorite thing to do is binge watch Netflix!

My name is Georgia Eckel, and I am a Freshman at LASA highschool. I have two dogs, a cat, a twin sister, and two older brothers. I really enjoy playing volleyball and hanging out with my friends. I also love going shopping and talking my dogs for walks. My favorite color is baby blue and my favorite thing to eat is probably brownies. I love going on vacations and being with my family!

My name is Matthew Suh. I enjoy reading, playing basketball, and playing video games. I was born in Phoenix, Arizona and moved to Austin, Texas when I was a few months old. I have one sister. I love meeting with my friends and hanging out with them. My favorite color is really any shade of blue. My favorite type of food is Italian food, because I love pasta. I also love going on vacations to different places, because I love exploring other parts of the world.

My name is Dylan Ramirez, I am from Austin, Texas, and I am a freshman from LASA. I enjoy running, biking, tennis, and anything outdoors. I also enjoy visiting my friends and family. I have one cat and one dog, and I also have an older sibling. My favorite colors are white and gray, and my favorite food is barbecue.

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Movies From The Comfort Of Your Car The Dr ive-In Mov ie Theater Business Boom s Dur ing The COVID-19 Pandem ic By: Bahar Aghili

You park your car in the lot and smell the buttery popcorn you packed from home. Then you pop open the trunk, or sit in the front seat snuggled up with your many blankets, laying back and relaxing because the movie is about to start.

The COVID pandemic that started in March of 2020 caused most movie theaters to close temporarily. It was a risk to sit indoors with a ventilation system

as this could easily spread the virus. Outdoor movie theaters allow people to watch movies on a projected screen while being safe in their own car. This had caused them to have seen a rise in popularity.

Barry Moltz, is a small business expert, who helps many businesses grow in difficult situations. The reason he said drive-in movie theaters are booming during COVID is that

COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 8

People watch a movie safely in their cars at The Globe Drive in.

Photo Courtesy of: The Globe Drive In

they are all outdoors.

Owners of Doc?s Drive In

?Best way to see a movie,?Moltz said. ?People think it?s safer to socialize outside or to be isolated in their cars. Outdoor movies allow people to be social with a lower risk.?

Theatre, Chris and Sarah, stand on the outdoor patio of the theater.

Photo Courtesy of: Doc?s Drive In Theatre

The virus can be more easily caught if indoors, which is why indoor movie theaters are losing business.

Brett Matthew W illiams is the owner of The Globe Drive-In, an outdoor movie theater, located in Pflugerville, Texas. ?We have experienced a lot of business at The Globe Drive-In since COVID came, because of the nature of the business,?W illiams said. ?Being that people can stay in their own vehicle, that people can be in there around their own germs and be in their own safe, comfortable environment.?

The Globe Drive-In offers a space to watch a movie and stay in your car without having to worry about contact with other people.

Sarah Denny is the owner of Doc?s Drive In Theatre located in Buda, Texas. ?We have gotten more business because of COVID,?Denny said. ?Because we are labeled as an essential business so people can still come and hang out, and feel safe and stay in their cars during COVID.?

Both Denny and W illiams said they have hired an additional seven employees for their drive-ins, to help with the growing amount of business the

theater is receiving. ?It used to be that a third of all drive in business happens in the three weeks around yearly business happen in three weeks around Valentine's Day, it's just kind of an appropriate event for Valentine's Day, but now we have sell out shows almost every weekend, if not, every weekend,?W illiams said.

order. Concessions would be brought out on a tray with an employee wearing a face mask and gloves. Regular popcorn is no longer served because of the COVID restrictions on it.

The Globe Drive-In has also expanded shows from two nights a week to four.

?We also do carside food service so people can order food online, and they don't have to wait in the line to get their food or anything like that. People used to just wait in a line and order their food at the concession stand, but we don't do that anymore,?Denny said.

Many precautions must be taken to avoid the risk of spreading COVID. At the Globe Drive-In, concessions are sold on their website. W hen people arrive, they can use their phones to

COVID brings many challenges for businesses of any kind.

Outdoor movie theaters have to find ways to keep customers safe, and still run their business. At Doc?s Drive In Theatre, masks are

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required anywhere outside your vehicle. ?We do big events, we do sell out, we have been very busy in the past. So when it comes down to it, it's just being busy all the time versus a few days a week,?Denny said.

Denny feels that Doc?s Drive In Theatre was prepared in a way that they could handle the increase in business.

?In addition, we have our restrooms cleaned three times a week, once right before showtime, the first showtime, the day of, once after on Saturday and then once on Sunday,?W illiams said.

Cleaning the restrooms more often and an increase in sanitation practices, provides for a lower chance for the spread of COVID. ?We were in Hutto, at the

Brushy Creek amphitheater, but unfortunately, due to COVID. We were asked to leave the amphitheater. Essentially the insurance would cost them too much to continue hosting us, so we had to find a new location,?

W illiams said.

The Globe Drive-In was closed for an entire month due to this issue.

A new location for a drive-in is hard to find. ?That's been our biggest hurdle, so

Employees at The Globe Drive In, masked and protected, are getting ready for a movie showing.

Photo Courtesy of: The Globe COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 10

Drive In

Customers sit at tables on the outdoor patio of Doc?s Drive In Theatre.

Photo Courtesy of: Doc?s Drive In Theatre

far is losing our spot due to COVID,?W illiams said.

The Globe Drive-In was forced to leave their location and this was a hard time for them because they were not making any money.

They quickly needed to find a new place to set up.

?I think it's just back to just feeling safe in your own vehicle, not breathing other people's air in the air conditioned movie theater.

And if you want, you can stay in your vehicle the whole time, there's no need to get out of your car. So you can stand your own space and stay safe,?Denny said.

?Just making sure everything's on point with our cleanliness and our standards. At first, it was really hard to find alcohol and the hand sanitizer and all that. So just making sure we're really stocked up and making sure our staff is, staying safe and following the rules,?Denny said.

Doc?s Drive In Theatre works hard to keep a completely safe environment during COVID.

Graphic by: Bahar Aghili

Doc?s Drive In Theatre wants customers to feel as safe as possible while enjoying the movie. ?We're hosting community free community shows in the parks in the city of Pflugerville, in the city of Liberty Hill and the city of Round Rock, and that's kind of us giving back to the community, and we couldn't afford to do that if we weren't doing so well,?

W illiams said.

Both businesses are using this opportunity to grow their drive-ins and show they will be here in the long run and that you can still retain business through creativity.

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Tips For Businesses During COVID-19 Six Easy Way s To Help Gr ow Your Business In

The Pandem ic By: Bahar Aghili

W hen advertising, write content on how you can help customers during the pandemic.

Make your customers feel like they will be safe at your business.

Restaurants can focus on takeout.

The customer can then enjoy the food where they feel safe. Improve your takeout system so it is easy and efficient.

Tables will need to be spaced out and because if this there might be less tables to sit. Reservation fees insure the person will show up. This is helpful, especially if your restaurant has a lot business.

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If possible, take your business outside. The CDC says it's much safer to be outside, that the virus spreads less if you're outside rather than in a poorly ventilated room. Customers worried about catching COVID will be more willing to come.

Advertise more online. People are spending less time out of the house and are more online and on social media. Try to get ads about your business on social media platforms or any type of place on the internet.

Make sure your cash flow is still constant. This is important as your business should not be losing money. Many businesses are going out of business becauseBahar Aghili of COVID.

Information Provided By Barry Moltz, Small Business Expert COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 13

Effect s of COVID-19 on Aust in Parks & Recreat ion An In-depth look on Austin Par ks & Recr eation's decisions to keep the com m unity safe.

By: Dylan Ramirez

T

he unpredictability and harshness of COVID-19 towards recreational businesses and departments has forced many of them to shut down temporarily or close permanently. This article will take a look into how Austin Parks and Recreation has survived and adapted to the unfavorable conditions COVID has set upon them.

The Austin Parks & Recreation department is in control of most outdoor facilities such as recreational centers, parks, trails, and more. COVID-19 has had a large impact on these facilities because we must use them with more caution and safety. Therefore, in the spring and summer of 2020, critical decisions were made by the Austin Parks & Recreation department to keep Austin safe.

Kimberly McNeely, the director of Austin Parks and Recreation, has had to react quickly

and stay on her toes to continue operations safely in the spring of 2020. There have been many quick adaptations made in the Austin Parks and Recreation Department to continue programs such as camps, clubs, public events and more.

This spring, the department was sprung by the effect of COVID, and in early March, the decision was made to shut down operations. ?We had started participating in meetings with the emergency operation center,?

McNeely said.

This aided the department in understanding the severity of the situation and knowing how to respond to it. Of course, since this is a department of recreation, many employees were unaccustomed to working virtually and interacting with others through a screen.

Those in charge of managing

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camps and clubs were disappointed when they were informed spring break camps would be impossible to conduct and summer camps would have to be hosted on Zoom. ?We were disappointed because we weren't able to provide the spring break camp that we usually have,?McNeely said.

Many employees had to get used to working on Zoom instead of coming to office buildings or recreation centers. This was particularly difficult for some people to become accustomed to, but McNeely discovered that since there were less people working in buildings, they were able to spend less money on physical building space and reallocate funds to other needs within public programs. ?By having a teleworking schedule, we're not going to have to use up so much physical building

A TwoWheel Tipsepisode posted on Instagram by Camacho Activity Center.

Photocourtesy of CamachoActivity center.

space, which will mean we'll be able to take those funds and reallocate them,?McNeely said.

Ryan Eaker, the site supervisor of the Camacho Activity Center, provided his alternative perspective on camps, programs,

and how the Camacho Activity Center has been affected this year

by COVID-19. ?My first reaction was concern because we were in the middle of doing several things during spring break,?Eaker said.

Event Camp staff and children at the Dittmar Recreation Center. Photo courtesy of Austin Parks& Recreation

Camacho was in the midst of a variety of several programs when COVID struck, and they had to make grave decisions quickly in order to keep everybody safe. The programs and camps during the spring of 2020 had to be canceled, and in-person summer camps were converted into virtual camps.

One of the first virtual programs Camacho introduced was the series of TwoWheel Tipsvideos.

These videos had the main purpose of aiding people in maintaining their bicycles because more people started going outside during the summer of 2020. Camacho also began posting virtual challenges on Instagram to capture the attention of younger children with activities they could do with their parents.

An initial obstacle presented

by COVID-19 was that the children of citywide employees who have responsibilities on behalf of the city had no place or people to take care

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Brand new outdoor garden at the Camacho Activity Center. Photocourtesy of author.

of their children due to spring and summer camps shutting down. The Austin Parks & Recreation Department reacted to this by creating a childcare service/ camp to enable the people with responsibilities to the city to continue working without worrying about their children. These camps, called Event camps, were very safe for the children. ?We had no campers that came down with COVID-19 while they were in our care,?McNeely said.

W hile creating the event camps, McNeely had to think long and hard about what safety protocols should be put into place to keep all of the staff and children safe. ?W hat are our cleaning protocols to make sure that our footballs are clean?And are our basketballs clean??McNeely questioned while thinking about these rules.

Another obstacle presented by COVID-19 was that construction would be dangerous because of large numbers of people

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joining together. McNeely found a way to implement standard operating procedures for completion of construction projects safely and efficiently such as only allowing one person per city vehicle. ?Our ability to continue to develop the park system has been fairly uninterrupted,?McNeely said.

Camacho, like Austin Parks & Recreation, has been able to do construction easily and smoothly during the COVID-19 pandemic. ?We got chosen by a group

called RECA, which stands for the Real Estate Council of Austin. They chose us as their site this year to do charity and improvement works, so they raised money, and they got volunteers in the construction industry,?Eaker said.

RECA?s actions have enabled Camacho to see many improvements such as a large garden, renovated bathrooms, and remodeled rooms.. The building of Camacho Activity Center was remodeled as was most practical for the clubs and programs of Camacho, which will be exciting for the children when programs commence in person.

Many smaller, unsupervised facilities such as playgrounds have been

built, but they cannot be opened to the public in order to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. As cases have slowly been going down, the Parks & Recreation center is slowly opening facilities such as playgrounds and recreation centers to the public. ?We've been incrementally opening things based upon the guidance and the conversations with our Austin Public Health Department,?McNeely said.

During the pandemic, Austin Parks & Recreation supported nonprofit entities and as a result, many of the department?s facilities became hygiene stations where individuals battling homelessness could take care of

Two Austin Parks & Recreation construction workers repairing a cemetery. PhotoCourtesy of Austin Parks& Recreation

their hygiene needs. Multiple locations also became food distribution centers and COVID-19 testing sites. ?Many of our sites became hygiene stations where individuals experiencing homelessness were able to go and take a shower,?

McNeely said.

Another one of the new Austin Parks & Recreation programs was the park monitor program, where employees who would have been working in swimming pools and other outdoor facilities that were closed were given an alternative job opportunity called park monitoring, where they reminded civilians using the park systems to

Two volunteers distributing meals to meal distribution recipients.

Photocourtesy of Austin Parks& Recreation

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do so safely and enforce rules there. ?Instead of those individuals working their regularly scheduled work week, we provided them some training, and then asked them to please go out into the park system and then do some voluntary compliance rule enforcement,?McNeely said.

Some of the largest public events that Austin Parks & Recreation aided, such as South by Southwest and ACL, had to be canceled because of the massive amounts of people in one area. Smaller events, such as volunteer programs like It?s My Park Day had to be canceled for the same reason, which disappointed many of the volunteers.

"However," McNeely said, ?We are slowly being able to reinstate those.?

One of the most troubling issues at the start of the pandemic was being able to acquire and distribute equipment such as masks and cleaning supplies. The solution they took for this obstacle was to repurpose the recreation centers that were shut down into warehouses for cleaning supplies. Many people donated to the repurposed recreation centers, and from there, the supplies were distributed to the other recreation centers that would make good use of them.

?We actually created our own little warehouse where I had all of those [closed] centers donate all of their cleaning supplies to a single location,?

McNeely said.

There were also a large number of children who depended on Austin Parks & Recreation food distribution programs for meals. Nonprofit organizations aided Austin Parks & Recreation to get back on their feet and continue providing food for families in need. Since senior citizens are at a higher risk of COVID-19 than others, a delivery service was put into place to ensure the safety of senior citizens.

The biggest differences between a typical pre-COVID workday and a current workday for Camacho?s staff are that they are spending less time face-to-face with people, and instead are seeing the participants of their programs over zoom calls. There are certain staff members responsible for conducting zoom check-ins with members of senior citizen programs, Camacho?s bike team, and more.

As the year progresses, there will be more diverse obstacles, but since Austin Parks & Recreation and Camacho were able to suppress the destructiveness of COVID-19, they should be able to overcome most anything else.

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Major Pandemics In Recent Hist ory The m ost significant global pandem ics r anging fr om the 1900s to COVID-19

1918- Spanish Flu An avian-borne flu that resulted in 50 million deaths worldwide. it was first observed in Europe, and there were no drugs or vaccines to counter it. the threats disappeared in 1914 when immunity began developing.

1957- Asian Flu Image provided by wikipedia.org

This flu originated in Hong Kong, China, and quickly spread to the U.S. There were 14,000 casualties in over six months.

A second wave of this flu in 1958 cause approximately 1.1 million deaths worldwide. A vaccine was created, which ended the pandemic.

Image provided by cdc.gov COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 20

Information provided by www.history.com and www.nytimes.com

ory

1981- HIV/AIDS This sexually transmitted disease was first observed in the homosexual communities in the U.S., but it was likely developed from a chimpanzee virus located in West Africa. Treatments have been developed to slow the progress of the disease, but there is no cure. 35 million people have died from it so far.

Image provided by gloveclinic.com

2003- SARS This virus is believed to have transmitted itself from bats to cats to humans in China.

Quarantine efforts were put into effect and the virus was contained by July of 2003 with only 774 deaths, and this virus has not reappeared since.

Image provided by healthline.com

2019- COVID-19 Also believed to have originated in bats, COVID-19 originated in W uhan, China.

The CDC recommends wearing facial covering on the mouth and nose, and staying six feet away from others when possible. Because of people who do not follow these guidelines, the virus continues to spread with 1.17 million deaths as of October 28 and no cure.

Image provided by The Verge COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 21

COVID-19 Effect on Local Rest aurant s Many r estaur ants in Austin, Texas ar e for ced to shutdow n for the safety of the city , but stay ing open is har d w ith little buisiness. By Geor gia Eckel

Hon est M ar y ' in door seat in g - This is the indoor seating at Honest Mary's pre-covid , when customers were able to walk in maskless. (Photo courtesy of Nelso Monteith, 2020)

The virus spreads, along with the fear of catching it. Many restaurants are forced to shut down to keep themselves and others safe from the infectious illness. Staying home is mandatory and cities close. The corona virus doesn't go away but spikes up as more and more people become infected.

As the virus spreads precautions need to be taken, one of these being closing down restaurants.

Many restaurants in Austin, TX, have had to temporarily close, COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 22

and some even had to permanently shut down because of this pandemic.

Stores began closing after spring break, March 30, 2020. W ithout customers coming and going, many ATX restaurants didn't have the money they needed to stay open. As people have adjusted to the measures needed to be taken to stay safe, many restaurants have reopened their drive through, and some have even completely opened.

Nelson Monteith, owner of Honest Mary?s, has done everything he can

to keep his business afloat, but has had to make very difficult decisions in order to do so. ?We laid off around 40 people and it was incredibly hard. I don't think I have done anything harder than that in my entire life, honestly. It was the laying people off, it was the seeing people lose their job, it was also just, in the first two days, this realization our business is not what we thought it was going to be. It's hard to put into words how laying off that many people made me feel,?Montieth said, It was tremendously hard.?

"I honestly still f eel likeI have PTSD f romthose f irst coupledays of tellingour staf f they no longer hadjobs."

Not only were so many people laid off, but many adjustments had to be made, including adjustments to the menu. Since customers are no

nt s longer dining in, Monteith and his employees have come up with easy and affordable family meals that have brought in some of the money customers weren't. ?We added the option of doing family meals, which is essentially like an economy pack, that serves four people. It's an item that we sell a lot of, and that doesn't cost us a lot of money, so they are profitable for us and they are fan favorites.?

Monteith said, ?So we did a couple of signature family packs that were calling family favorites and we have a build your own option, that allows people to build their own family packs.?

Cu st om izin g you r ow n bow l - There are many options to choose from when ordering your Honest Mary's bowl. You can customize a bowl to your liking, just like this bowl has customized. (Photo courtesy of Nelson Monteith, 2020)

Monteith said that COVID hitting forced a change in mindset which was surprisingly tough considering the restaurant had been moving forward but now had to take a step backward and

work hard to stay open. ?W hen COVID hit, I had to shift into more of a recovery in a pandemic, in a state of crisis mode.

It was just hard to go back to a Kom e su sh i pr e-covid seat in g -The capacity of indoor seating in Kome sushi has been reduced due to COViD-19, but in this image you can see the restaurants indoor seating pre-covid.

(Photo courtesy of Kome Sushi, 2020)

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different way of thinking, to basically regress, to go from having such high hopes to where we're going. In a way I am pulling myself away from being in the restuarents all the time to all the sudden, boom, COVID hits, we lose our people, I lose my ops guy, I'm working in the restaurant a lot, I'm delivering meals to peoples door for free,?Monteith said. ?I think just the emotional shift of thinking I was going to be somewhere very different right now. I think that's kind of the part of owning a restaurant and

being an entrepreneur, you always know there is a chance that something like this is going to happen and there is just no way I am going to quit what I am doing. I have too much invested, I am the owner of the business, I can't quit, I can't leave.?

Honest Mary?s isn't the only restaurant affected by this crisis.

Elizabeth Hyman, Director of Operations at Kome Sushi speaks on behalf of the company about the impacts covid has had on their restaurant.

?It was Friday, March 13th when the city first made the announcement that two residents had tested positive for COVID. Things moved quickly from there.

That weekend I prepared our stores for "the worst,? Hyman said. ?On Sunday, March 15th I called an emergency meeting for the owners and managers at Kome, and we discussed options. I continued to work on online ordering options for Kome and Daruma, and by Monday, March 16th at around 2 pm, we made the call to shut down all stores. That was the last day Ni-Kome: Sushi & Ramen ever did business. Daruma Ramen stayed open and attempted to take out via online ordering and Uber Eats. We tried multiple angles and locations but ultimately decided to shut it down and sell their ramen from Kome Sushi Kitchen instead.?

Daruma Ramen was shut down and relocated inside Kome Sushi Kitchen because of the pandemic.

From there, things continued to change, and staying open as a restaurant got harder and harder.

Hyman talks about having to let go of many employees that had been working in the restaurant for a while.

Var iou s M eal Opt ion s - While customers are trying to stay home and social distance, they have the option of delivery or curbside pickup, and continue to come pick up their favorite meals.

(Photo courtesy of Nelson Monteith, 2020.)

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?We furloughed over 100 employees,? Hyman said. ?I had to tell a staff of over 150 employees that they didn't have jobs anymore, and I had to continue to answer to them in the coming months before, finally, in July telling them all that the job they once had is no longer available

and I would be terminating them permanently. I had to terminate staff members who had been with us for 5, 6, 7, 8 years.?

Not only were many changes made to where the business was and the amount of staff there to help, but changes had to be made to the daily responsibilities.

Hyman talks about wearing masks all day, every day. ?We wear masks all day ? if you think wearing a mask to school or to the grocery store is annoying, try wearing it for 10 hours a day. We started wearing masks about 2 weeks in. So? 7 months. For seven months, every single day I come to work (5 days a week) I've worn a mask. It's important and it has kept our store safe. Also, it just becomes "normal," like putting an apron on when you get to work,?

Hyman said. ?Not only do we wear masks, but we wash our hands even more than we already were, we order a variety of compostable or recyclable take out containers, we have shorter hours, we are 100%contactless. We have had to look at how we communicate with our guests, how can we still connect with them from afar?

How do we market ourselves now vs. then?It's all changed.?

The effect that COVID-19 has had on these restaurants and many more is big.

Many restaurants couldn't manage to stay afloat like Kome Sushi and Honest Mary's and closed down. Next time you have food delivered to your door or pick up food in a drive-through, make sure to thank the employees because this change has been nearly impossible for them.

New Ren ovat ion s - There have been many renovations done pre-covid to Honest Mary's. In this picture a Honest Mary's employee is using a newly added tap (Photo courtesy of Nelson Monteith, 2020)

Ou t door view - This is the parking lot view of Kome sushi, and Austin , Texas restaurant that has managed to stay up and running during the pandemic. (Photo courtesy of Kome Sushi, 2020) COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 25

COVID-1 9 ________ Prevent ion Avoid Traveling

Many people have had travel plans, but were forced to cancel due to COVID-19, which was a smart thing to do. You can get COVID-19 while traveling. You may feel perfectly fine and not have any symptoms, but you can still spread COVID-19 to other people. You and however you choose to travel with might spread COVID-19 to other people including your family, friends, and community for 14 day after you were exposed to the illness. Infoprovided by CDC

Social Dist ance Social distancing is essential to avoid getting COVID-19, and stopping the spread overall. Social Distancing reduces physical interactions between people and lowers the chances of spreading the virus. In order to practice social distancing, you should stay at least 6-feet away from non household damily members. Social distancing reduces your chances of getting COVID-19 aswell as others info provided by CDC

Wear a mask Masks help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wearing a mask when leaving your household keeps you and others safe. It has been found that mask mandates led to a slowdown in daily COVID-19 growth rate. Masks can prevent larger expelled droplets from when you sneeze from evaporating into smaller droplets that can travel farther. To help your community and slow the spread of the virus W EAR A MASK! infoprovided by CDC

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St aying Safe During The

PA NDEMI C COVID-19 is r apidly spr eading, and it is ver y im por tant the we do ever y thing we can do to stop the spr ead of the v ir us and stay safe.

Wash your hands

W ashing your hands is vital in order prevent spreading germs. Germs are spread by hands when you touch your face, when you touch contaminated surfaces and objects, when you blow, cough, or sneeze into your hand, and even prepare/ eat food with unwashed hands. It is important that you wash you hands because someone with COVID-19 could touch a door that you then touch, and those germs are then on your hands while you eat. W ashing your hands will lower your chances of becoming ill and is 100%recommended. Infoprovided by CDC

Clean/Disinfect oft en t ouched object s.

Decontaminating surfaces/ objects is very important, especially during times like today. Disinfecting an surface/ object is meant to kill the infected area and get rid of the microscopic organisms on surfaces. If someone was to touch a infected surface it would be more than likely that they become infected.

Disinfect often used objects and surfaces often. Infoprovided by CDC

Follow food safet y guidelines Many elderly people are being offered the option of their groceries being brought to them, because they are at higher risk than young, healthier people. If you are at risk to getting the corona virus, then take a look at this option. Infoprovided by FDA

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The Affect COVID-19 has had on Ret ail Businesses Div ing deeper into how businesses have changed due to COVID-19 By : Matthew Suh

The retail industry is one of the largest business industries in the world. It?s a diverse industry with many different forms such as clothing businesses, food businesses, boutique businesses, etc. Due to the industry being so diverse with so many different businesses, it?s hard to stand out and keep your business alive and afloat above everyone else?s.

the years, she?s kept on pursuing her passion for her own brick and mortar business even through tough times and has made it to the point where her business is successful.

going to sell items that I love and I hope other people like it. I knew not everybody was going to like it, right?You can't please everybody, but I thought, hopefully there will be enough people that like what I'm selling to make this work.?

Take Part is a retail shop that sells different types of objects.

Almost like a gift shop, you can go inside and choose different Surprisingly enough, even decorative items and objects to though she?s very passionate purchase. about her shop, it wasn?t the Being a business owner is one dream of hers. ?It wasn't, ? of the toughest jobs to have. To ?My idea for my shop came Gordon said. ?I did not start your business from know what I wanted to do from the things that I nothing and then turn into a for a job until I was in appreciated. My whole life I way of making money is very college.? have appreciated, I've challenging. It?s even more appreciated art and handmade challenging when you have to items like crafts from all over Gordon graduated college sustain a business during a the world. I always really with a graduate degree in global pandemic such as the one appreciated unique items, ? social work. She then went we're in now.

Gordon said. ?I've always liked on and worked in the social things like that. So honestly I Nina Gordon is a local shop just said, I'm going to open a owner in Austin, Texas. Her store that just has things I love business is called Take Part, and in it. My idea for the shop was opened in 2011. Throughout very general, it was that I'm COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 28

industry for 15 years. After that many years, she started to get tired of social work though, and wanted to explore other options.

?Then I started getting bored of social work. Social work wasn't exciting. It wasn't giving me any energy which made me start to feel tired,?

Gordan said. ?And I started thinking about, ?Do I want to keep doing this?Or do I want to do something else???

Shelves and tables full of Take Heart's decorative items Photo courtesy of Take heart

The inspiration she got to quit social work and start her own business, was from herself, but also from a book called ?The Artist's W ay?.

She talked about how as a child, she was very creative and loved going to shops where they had different little objects and knick-knacks to decorate living spaces and to play with.

W hen she first started, like any new business, it was very hard. She had to spend lots of time, money, and effort into starting up and maintaining this brand-new business that very few people knew about. ?W hen I opened up my business, I kept my social work job for the first four years. So I would work social work one week, and then the next week I worked in my shop. I had an unusual

job where I could do that,?She said. ?During the week where I didn?t work in my shop, I had people I knew working there. Because of this, it was a lot of work in the first three years of opening up the business.?

It takes a lot of work, day and night to keep a small business afloat, pandemic or not. W hile it was tiring, Gordan felt energized to maintain it and turn a profit.

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More decorative objects from Take Heart's shop Photo courtesy of Take heart

the end of March, she had to do curb-side delivery Since the design of her store is and deliver any last walk-in based, it?s been hard to remaining objects she maintain it throughout this pandemic. She had to close her shop could, to pull in some money. During the on March 18th, because it was too costly to keep up the business. March following months, times were hard for her. Since was around the peak of when the she didn?t have a constant panic started to ensue, so there was source of income, she had very little business she could do. At to do many things to limit her bills. ?I turned off my internet, because I wanted to stop any bills I had. All of a sudden my money stopped coming in. I?m closed for business which means I can?t make any COVID a n d i t s a f f ec t o n Au st i n Bu si n esses | 30

money, which was very difficult for me, ?she said. ?I'm sure many other people also had to do this. On top of turning off my internet, I talked to my credit card processing business, which was very nice by letting me not have to pay my bills for a short period of time, I talked to the landlord to negotiate rent, etc. The whole scenario was a very stressful situation for everybody.?

Just a few months later, she reopened her business back to the public. At first, it was pretty tough, but as more people started to get outside

and explore, with caution, she started to get more customers. Since her shop is a small local business as well, people felt cozy and secluded when they were in her shop.

Her biggest secret to maintaining a profit is having patience in knowing that everything will eventually be alright.

patient with the pandemic.

So maybe going slow and steady will get us through the next year and help us stay in business. Then maybe down the road, things will get back to normal like it was before COVID. In the future, we?re just going to be more careful about our sanitation and hygiene.?

Despite a pandemic, Take Part has been able to survive, barely. ?I think it's smart for us to be

Maintaining a business itself is hard enough. It?s especially hard when you have to do it during a pandemic, so being

able to have a successful business during the hardest of times is incredible. In the end, you just need to have hope and faith that everything will be alright. ?I think once we get the virus under control and we have a good vaccine that they know it's going to work, we're going to be able to go out with our friends again, and get together with other people. This won't last forever. ?

Wide shot of Take Heart's shop Photo courtesy of Take heart

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Timeline on t he Effect s of COVID-19 t o Ret ail Businesses What COVID-19 events have effected the business of r etail

The U.S.A 5,000,000 cases and 162,000 fa

August 9, 2

The U.S.A. surpasses 1,000,000 COVID-19 cases and hits more than 57,000 fatalities.

e n li e m i T 0 2 20

April 28, 2020

The U.S.A. surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 cases.

May 28, 2020

First COVID-19 case in the U.S.A. is recorded.

January 21, 2020

How Ret ail Is B Businesses don't know what to do. Nothing happens.

January 21, 2020 Timeline info from AJMC, livescience, npr, and Google.

Image for mask provided by pngarts. Image for social distancing provided by tompkinscountyny.

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Between the times of April 10 and Augu policies that say that customers have to These policies that these 33 governors decrease the number of people who are c

e U.S.A. surpasses 00,000 COVID-19 ses and hits more than 2,000 fatalities.

gust 9, 2020

As of November 1st, 2020 the U.S.A. is at 9.28 million cases and 231 thousand deaths.

Many businesses have introduced different tactics to do their part in reducing the number of COVID-19 cases. For seniors and "other individuals most at risk" many popular businesses such as Costco, Fry's HEB, Target , Walmart and many more have introduced a certain period of time where seniors can buy what they need without being at as much of a risk.

Many of the businesses mentioned above have also implemented the following two techniques to slow down COVID-19 cases. Plexiglass barriers that between cashiers and customers to ensure that the cashier and/or customer both come in to as little contact as possible. They have also added sanitizing stations at the front of shops to let people have some way to help kill off the bacteria. Both these methods are very effective in making sure that neither people contract the deadly virus.

As of November 1, 2020 many popular retail businesses have senior hours, they all have sanitizing stations, they all require the mask policy, and the social distancing policy.

s Being Affect ed

d August 1, 33 governors of various states have introduced have to wear masks at all times and keep social distancing. vernors as of August 1 have introduced will hopefully help ho are contracting COVID-19.

e n li e im

This image provided by Marker Medium shows a customer and cashier doing a transaction with minimal interaction between them, because of the Plexiglass.

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