Demonstrations deal blow to downtown Austin businesses reeling from pandemic
When bars were allowed to reopen about 10 days ago, Rahim Momin had strong hopes for a rebound in sales at the 24-hour convenience store he owns in the heart of Austin’s Sixth Street entertainment district.
Instead, his store — called Shop 24 — sat boarded up and mostly closed over the weekend as hundreds of people demonstrating against police violence converged downtown, engaging in standoffs with authorities in a number of instances.
“The bars were open for a week, and then this happened — as soon as (business) started getting better,” Momin said of the protest marches and demonstrations in downtown Austin over the past few days, held in conjunction with similar protests in dozens of cities across the country.
He and other business owners described themselves as sympathetic to the central message of the protests, which are aimed at condemning police violence and discrimination against black people nationwide.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/business/20200601/demonstrations-deal-blow-to-downtown-businesses-reeling-from-pandemic
