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elleng

(130,141 posts)
Mon Apr 20, 2020, 12:57 PM Apr 2020

How a Bakery Survives the Pandemic Apocalypse

And what it means for all of us if it doesn’t.

*So what, practically speaking, does it mean to be a small business trying to survive in a plague? In Vera’s case, it means suddenly running something that’s closer to an ambitious bake sale than overstuffed bakery. The glass case at Du Jour was once a pirate’s chest of outrageous delectables, including dozens of muffins the size of baseballs, my personal vice. Now it has 15. On Wednesday, Vera threw all of them away. No one wanted muffins that day.

It means Vera has three employees, where she once had 10. It means she does all the baking herself, where she once had another baker, now living back home with his parents. It means she’s taking in 40 percent of what she once did, though she’ll still turn a modest profit this month if her landlords accept $5,000 in rent, rather than the customary $8,800. (So far, no. They’re tacking the balance onto next month’s bill.)

Many of us are now privately cataloging our attachments to the local businesses we can’t bear to see collapse. . .

If mom-and-pop establishments like Vera’s close, the psychic and economic devastation can’t be underestimated. Small businesses employ — and recirculate money — locally. In recent years, an increasing number of them have been owned by women and minorities. They define and protect neighborhoods. They’re anchors and harbors all at once.

Our neighborhoods would otherwise be moonscapes of Burger Kings and Dunkin’ Donuts.

The greatest perversity of all? It’s the most community-minded souls who create the most lovable third places. Vera knows your regular order and discreetly slips you leftovers at the end of the week. Even now, she’s making sure she’s still baking vegan and gluten-free options for those who want them. When customers linger briefly and make conversation, she reassures them that her cafe is OK, in the same poignant and peculiar way that the bereaved often console those who are supposed to be consoling them.'>>>


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/opinion/small-business-coronavirus.html?

P.S. I've made a small contribution to a favorite patisserie; they asked for help. I've moved away from their first location, but hope to continue to contribute, and indulge when I visit the 'old' neighborhood.

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How a Bakery Survives the Pandemic Apocalypse (Original Post) elleng Apr 2020 OP
Apparently they rose to the occasion. Throck Apr 2020 #1
The answer is out there, it's just very unpopular politically... Moostache Apr 2020 #2
While I agree customerserviceguy Apr 2020 #3
Amen...the situation requires BOLD thinking and imagination... Moostache Apr 2020 #4

Moostache

(9,895 posts)
2. The answer is out there, it's just very unpopular politically...
Mon Apr 20, 2020, 01:10 PM
Apr 2020

The landlords and banks who will lose on loans are the ones who should take the haircut and the losses this time...

In '08, we saved the banks from themselves and from their fraud and greed and insane practices. We should have let them all fail, nationalized the whole thing and then spun it back out with greater regulations and capital requirements and PERMANENTLY closed the casino and profiteering.

Now, MILLIONS of small businesses are on the ropes because their costs / accounts payable are continuing to accrue while their income / accounts receivable have seized up. It's not a permanent condition, though it may be a lengthy process of getting back to anything like what was widely available 3 months ago.

The landlords and the banks are far fewer in number than the millions who are going to lose it all if they are foreclosed on or evicted or both. Once again, PROFITS over PEOPLE is our national motto (fuck "E pluribus unum" now).

If we continue to allow politicians to make policy in favor of donors and the wealthy to protect their profits and to do so by inflicting pain on the people, then expect to see millions of unemployed far beyond the "end of the shutdown".

The lack of discernment in our leaders is truly depressing.

customerserviceguy

(25,183 posts)
3. While I agree
Mon Apr 20, 2020, 02:51 PM
Apr 2020

that landlords would probably benefit in the long run by taking a rent cut, and keeping the space filled, versus having a long term vacancy that would generate zero income, the fact is, a lot of them are leveraged to the hilt.

Will local tax authorities join in to help by lowering assessed values on buildings that are not generating the rent that they used to? Will they see that sales tax revenues that go away when small businesses are gone are worth taking a cut in property taxes?

It seems to me that is an opportunity for local politicians to take leadership in keeping their communities from becoming the moonscapes that are described in the OP.

Moostache

(9,895 posts)
4. Amen...the situation requires BOLD thinking and imagination...
Mon Apr 20, 2020, 03:41 PM
Apr 2020

ANYTHING beyond "Save the Profits" is at least an attempt in my eyes...

Rethinking everything is a must, not just saving a few, but building a BETTER future for all should be the goal...

It's times like now that I REALLY miss the Obama administration, at least then, no matter what I felt it was reasonable to assume talented, knowledgeable people would be working on problems...now? Not so much...

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