Northside businesses ‘all hurting’ from coronavirus closures
Scott Woller, owner of Corner Coffee, sets down an online order ready for pickup. Photo by David Pierini
By David Pierini Staff Reporter
Chef Dan Prentice creates art in a curtain of steam when he drops delicate curly noodles in a tangy Shoyu broth. Cooking is why Prentice opened Tori 44 in North Minneapolis, where he and his staff normally crank out fresh ramen and rave customer reviews in ample batches.
But the dining room, the tables normally full of friends and families, is eerily quiet when he cooks. Prentice, like many North Minneapolis business owners, is fearful his restaurant won’t survive an indefinite shutdown ordered by the state as it tries to contain the spread of a deadly coronavirus.
Small businesses here have survived recessions and the destructive wrath of a tornado. But none of those events offer a roadmap for overcoming a global pandemic.
A sign reminds Tori 44 customers that takeout is still available during the COVID-19 shutdown. Photo by David Pierini
Food businesses are considered essential operations and are allowed to operate take-out and delivery services. But the amount of money Tori 44 can make on take-out Thursday through Sunday is maybe “one-sixth” of what the restaurant makes on a weekend full of diners.
“I’m just trying to survive and serve good food,” Prentice said. “I’ve applied for emergency relief loans but I’m not sure of the long term wisdom of incurring the debt just to stay afloat. I survive day to day for now. I don’t have many months [to endure].”
Small businesses make up 44 percent of the nation’s economy and generate nearly $6 trillion in gross domestic product, according to the US Small Business Administration.
Most small businesses operate on thin margins and do not have the crash reserves to ride out a prolonged closure. Food businesses, like Tori 44, Sammy’s Avenue Eatery and Wendy’s House of SOUL are now focused solely on takeout to keep generating some revenue.
But many businesses, like bars, hair salons and clothing stores, are shuttered with no income. Meanwhile, owners have rent, payroll and other bills to pay as well as families to feed.
KB Brown, who runs a print shop on West Broadway, Wolfpack Promotions, said 2020 was already a difficult year before the coronavirus spread to Minnesota.
“The tariffs hurt our industry, and coronavirus has stopped our industry,” said Brown who runs the shop with his wife, Katie. “It’s not a matter of losing a business. It’s a matter of losing my household, too. There’s a lot of things this is affecting.”
The Northside Economic Opportunity Network has been working with small businesses to seek state and federal grants and low-interest loans to keep businesses afloat.
The nonprofit business incubator has provided small emergency loans of up to $1,000 to help temporarily closed businesses with expenses, including payroll. NEON president Warren McLean said some 200 businesses and entrepreneurs across the state have applied for loans through NEON.
“This is a tsunami for businesses,” McLean said. “They’re all hurting. Even businesses that are profitable operate on a fairly thin margin. They don’t have months and months.”
In addition, the state and federal governments continue to develop programs to help businesses. Minnesota has an Unemployment Insurance Shared Work Program that helps employers with some money to retain their employees.
The US Small Business Administration offers low-interest loans to pandemic-impacted businesses that can help with fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills.
NEON is also assisting business owners in applying for these and other resources.
“One of the things we’re pushing for is that there be grants,” McLean said. “We agree that people can not take on more debt. Some loan programs have a requirement that the owner retains their employees which makes the business eligible for loan forgiveness effectively making it a grant.”
“There are also programs for [solo entrepreneurs] and micro-entrepreneurs that have a forgiveness component. The point is cash strapped businesses need grants not loans.”
Scott Woller, who owns Corner Coffee Camden on Thomas Ave. N, is hoping for grants that can help him bring back hourly employees. Woller said his and other businesses can’t afford to take out loans that “don’t advance the business.”
For now, Corner Coffee does an order-online/take-out business that is not even 50 percent of the coffee shop’s normal business.
“I am worried about the percentage of businesses that won’t reopen,” Woller said. “Just to reopen can be expensive. You’ve got to have inventory, trained employees…We’re all just trying to figure it out.”
Prentice said the order to cease dine-in services forced him to lay off most of his 18 employees. He advised them all to file for unemployment.
Currently, he operates takeout from noon to 8pm Thursday through Sunday with a couple of employees. In addition to a small menu, he is selling bags of ramen, containers of soup and gift cards, though he worries he can’t honor them if the restaurant closes for good.
“Some of our regulars have been great,” Prentice said. “The cooking part is still enjoyable and almost therapeutic because I don’t have to sit at a computer to fill out loan applications.”