American Express – Small Enterprise Saturday Turns 10 in Make-or-Break Pandemic Yr – CBS San Francisco

BERKELEY (KPIX) — Emily Goldenberg owns GoldenBug a kids’s clothes retailer on Berkeley’s Fourth Street that opened a 12 months in the past. Goldenberg has needed to lay off all seven staff at this store and one other she owns due to the pandemic.

“We were closed for however many months, six months. It was rough,” she mentioned.

She’s solely just lately employed again three employees.

Customers at GoldenBug, a kids’s clothes retailer on Berkeley’s Fourth Street. (CBS)

“We have our online presence which has boosted us during the pandemic and kept us alive, frankly,” Goldenberg mentioned.

For Goldenberg and plenty of impartial companies Small Enterprise Saturday opens a crucial vacation procuring season.

Nationwide, 100,000 companies have already shut down throughout the pandemic.

In keeping with the Nationwide Federation of Unbiased Enterprise, one in 5 says it must shut if issues don’t get higher in a number of months.

Some are banding collectively.

Greater than 50, Black-women-owned companies have been holding a two-day stay, on-line procuring occasion organized by Simply Be, a social enterprise in Oakland.

Co-founder Hope Lehman mentioned, “This is a high stakes holiday here for small business owners.”

She added, “Specifically for Black businesses, nearly half are shutting down currently in the country so it’s crucial folks go the extra mile to shop small.”

The occasion, referred to as “For the Culture Market,” hopes to make greater than $100,000 in weekend gross sales for Black girls entrepreneurs, like Alicia Kidd of The Wine Noire.

Kidd imports, exports and distributes for winemakers of coloration and just lately acquired highlighted in Wine Spectator journal.

“My business was a lot of corporate — B-to-B festivals — and that took a 50 percent dive and now I’m pivoting 100 percent online,” Kidd mentioned.

Locals wish to assist.

An American Express survey says that when individuals are conscious of the affect of shopping for native, three-quarters say they’re extra seemingly to take action.

“It helps the community. I also want to support businesses I like and I want them to stay,” mentioned shopper Anna Munkres of Kensington.

The survey additionally says that, for each greenback spent on American small enterprise, 67 cents stays within the native economic system.

There are additionally grants to assist native entrepreneurs and impartial Black-owned companies.

Alameda County introduced it’s taking functions for as much as $5,000 in CARES Act grants for small companies.