Despite COVID-19, the maritime community in San Diego depends on Seabreeze Books and Charts on Scott Street to navigate the high seas.
“It's everything from private boaters to commercial cruise ships and superyachts to tugboats and military vessels,” Seabreeze co-owner Ann Kinner said. “I’ve got to be here. They all still need charts, official publications, and navigation tools that let them keep working.”
Although her specialty maritime bookstore was deemed an essential business during the pandemic, Kinner said she has only been operating at about a 20% sales level.
“We've regained some since,” Kinner told the Southern California Record. "We're at about 40% now of what a normal year would look like and that still isn't enough for me to feel comfortable taking payroll. I'm hoping that changes next month. We'll see.”
Kinner is among 20% of business owners whose sales levels are still 50% or less than they were pre-crisis, according to a nationwide NFIB poll. Some 29% are at 51% to 75% of pre-coronavirus sales levels and more than 36% are back or nearly back to pre-coronavirus levels.
“I don't have anyone working with me right now,” Kinner said in an interview. “I had one part-time person before but I can't afford to bring her back on and I can't afford to pay myself. So, it's a matter of covering the key expenses, keeping the doors open, and making sure that my ongoing customers know we are still here.”
Kinner, who has been without staff assistance since mid-March, isn’t the only business owner working alone. About 19% have fewer employees than they did this time last year and 11% have significantly less, according to the poll.
“When the business comes back, my part-time worker wants to come back and I want her to come back but right now I can't afford to do that,” Kinner said. “She is better off on unemployment.”
The survey further found that 34% of small business owners have applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) with 82% of applicants having their loan approved and only 8% receiving a denial.
Kinner’s EIDL loan was for $40,000.
“We got word of being too small to qualify for PPP loans,” she said. “I don't have enough employees. So, it was not going to be worth anything and it took 10 weeks before the EIDL finally came through.”
Like 33% of business owners in the poll, Kinner would consider applying for the support that Congress and the administration are negotiating for small businesses most negatively impacted by the pandemic. The poll further found that, if eligible, 45% of small business owners would apply or re-apply for a second PPP loan.
“It will depend on what the assistance looks like,” she said. “If it's a grant that I don't have to worry about adding to my debt, then I will consider applying for it. We are a woman owned business and we're definitely a small business.”
Kinner, like 53% of those polled, was fortunate enough to secure a $5,000 grant from the City of San Diego.
“It wasn't a lot but it was enough to give me a cushion and that has made a big difference in my level of comfort,” she said. “I don't know where I would be right now without it because I would literally be down to pennies.”