There are a lot of pretty pictures of downtown Healdsburg on the internet where winery sites and tourist directories show off the historic plaza, well-lighted storefronts and sidewalks with strolling shoppers and wine tasters. That was how Healdsburg used to look before the pandemic-induced economic shutdown, now beginning its second month. How soon it will look the same again is anybody’s guess, but there are now fears it may take years and not just months.
One group of small shop and business owners is not waiting around to see when an old, or new, normal returns. A growing selection of shop owners, downtown tenants and wine-related businesses have merged individual fundraising appeals and shopping offers on a bailouthbg.com (bail out Healdsburg) website. Some of the businesses are Hopscotch Gifts & Gallery, Mr. Moon’s, Market 377, Tamarind, Favorites and Russian River Tea Company.
“We’re trying to find money wherever we can. This is really difficult,” said Kay Young, owner of Hopscotch. “I think we have a small, but powerful group. Our downtown retail businesses need a voice, I think, that’s been lacking.”
Visitors to the website can make donations to individual merchants who have setup GoFundMe and Venmo accounts. Some merchants are offering gift card suggestions, online purchasing and some have delivery services.
Elsewhere the chamber of commerce has convened a Business Recovery Taskforce Team and on Monday night the city council approved $600,000 for small business loans. But the bailout Healdsburg group is worried such help will not come fast enough.
“We all have rents, utilities and other expenses,” said Young. “These loans might only keep us going for two months. What happens after that?”
Gary Johnson, a local resident who does not own a downtown business started the bailouthbg.com website after seeing a bailoutnyc.com site based in New York City. “I think if we amplify this message and all our voices of our local community and small business owners we can get stronger together,” Johnson told The Tribune.
“The business community is the economic engine of Healdsburg and they support the everyday quality of life we all enjoy,” said Tallia Hart, CEO of the Healdsburg chamber.
The bailouthbg.com is not affiliated with the chamber but Hart said the chamber has posted a link on their website with lots of other COVID-19 related business resources.
Small shops in hometowns all across America are now looking to social media and the internet to replace their “brick and mortar” sales and traffic. Many are finding it hard to get noticed in a virtual marketplace dominated by Amazon and controlled by Google, Facebook and non-local entities.
“Here at Mr. Moon’s we have been offering personalized shopping, putting together custom gift packages and birthday gifts and working one-on-one with our customers to get them anything they need,” said Jessica Timmsen, who owns the Center Street store with her mother Patty. “The response we have had from our locals has been supportive. We had people reaching out for Easter gifts and the occasional birthday gift, and we are hoping to see sales for Mother’s Day.”
The Timmsens’ landlord offered a small rent reduction in April but the store had to layoff all of its employees.
“We love Sonoma County and Healdsburg and have every expectation of getting back to business as soon as is safe and responsible,” said Timmsen.
So far, most of the downtown businesses have been given delays or forgiveness on their rents which can range from $2,000 to more than $6,000 per month in the blocks surrounding the Plaza.
“I think we need more than just loans,” said Young. “We need grants and relief. Why would I want to go into more debt when I don’t know how long it will be to re-open? I’m afraid it might take more than a year before we really see business come back like before.”
Hopscotch is a small shop around the corner from the Plaza on Matheson Street. It looks like a one-woman business, but Young points out that she provides a sales point for as many as 150 artists.
“All this social media is not what I represent. I offer all American-made and artisan pieces. Now I’m having to learn this online business. I am working harder now than I’ve ever worked when it was just me and my store,” she said.
