Small businesses around the world struggle to survive

SUMMARY

Small businesses around the world are fighting for survival amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Whether they make it will affect not just local economies but the fabric of communities.

By APJul 14, 2020 12:00:56 PM IST (Published)

Stephanie Skoglund touches up paint on a giant chalkboard where guests can leave messages for the bride and groom at The Vault, the wedding and event centre she owns in Tenino, USA, on July 1, 2020. The board still bears the names — Kyzer and Sandra — of the last couple to be married at the venue in March before the coronavirus outbreak forced them to close their doors. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Chander Shekhar, co-owner of Shopno Fashion in New York's Jackson Heights neighbourhood, poses for a portrait on June 22, 2020, the first day of New York City's "Phase Two" reopening plan. This neighbourhood was hit particularly hard by COVID-19, and shops were opening for the first time in more than three months. Shekhar is reluctant to complain, but the night before reopening the stress and uncertainty of what lay ahead had woken him nine times. (AP Photo/Marshall Ritzel)

Shao Lin Tia prepares a plate of sushi at Ginza, the pan-Asian restaurant she runs with her husband on Rue Daguerre, a classic market street in Paris, on Sunday, July 5, 2020. Under French rules, grocery stores, butchers, wine shops and cheese shops were considered essential during the nationwide confinement to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Restaurants, even for takeout, were not. The rules have gradually relaxed, first for takeout only, then for a few outdoor tables, but sales remain low and Tia worries that the hardest is yet to come. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Shinichiro Hirano walks through his Sun Flower Shop, where he put up a sign reminding customers to keep a safe distance from each other to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, Monday, June 22, 2020, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Patrons relax over cocktails in the velvet chairs of DJ Johnson’s NOLA Art Bar in New Orleans on June 23, 2020. In mid-March, the city ordered all bars to close to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. On June 13, Johnson was able to start seating diners inside the gallery at half capacity. He makes constant rounds of the room, distributing hand sanitizer. Gradually, customers are beginning to trickle in. “It’s discouraging. But the only thing that kept me going is, there is no quit,” he said. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

DJ Johnson poses for a portrait on June 25, 2020, inside his new NOLA Art Bar in New Orleans, which opened just before the coronavirus pandemic. In mid-March, the city ordered all bars to close. Six weeks later, he adapted to rules that allowed food service businesses to stay open for takeout. His bar hadn’t done food, but he started making New Orleans staples. The first day he made $35. “It’s discouraging. But the only thing that kept me going is, there is no quit,” he said. As the rules are gradually relaxed, customers have begun to trickle in. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Jane Howe, owner of the Broadway Bookshop, poses for a photo in the doorway of her shop on Broadway Market in Hackney, east London on June 28, 2020. Before the coronavirus, Howe never saw the need for a website. Shoppers would pack the tidy shop on weekends, with more often waiting outside, drawn by the store’s personalized service. She finally launched a website in mid-June and loyal customers have been placing orders, but sales are far below what they were before the pandemic. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)