Jérôme Ribeiro's Ural motorbike will stay in the garage for a few weeks: the owner of Rides by Me, which offers guided tours of San Francisco in a sidecar, has seen its reservations canceled one behind the other: “In mid-February, I had around thirty visits booked for March and April. I only have one left for May 1st“, Reports this native Alsatian. “People can no longer travel from Europe, but hope to return later.”Tourist guide by day, Jérôme Ribeiro is also, the rest of the time, waiter at Bistro Aix, a French restaurant located in the Marina. An activity that also stopped due to the Covid-19 epidemic: “For the past ten days, we had a lot less people. Last Saturday, my boss decided to close for two weeks. You also have to think about your employees: when you serve people, you cannot maintain a distance of 2 meters."Jérôme Ribeiro has no choice but to point to unemployment for the moment. “I applied to be a deliverer at Amazon, I was told that I would be answered in 4 to 8 weeks!”
Emeline Moutarde, creator of children's objects, has not had an order on her Sew Francisco site since the end of January: “I live in Sunnyvale, where the Asian community is very large: very early, we saw the supermarket shelves empty, probably because their families had warned them of what was happening in China or. in Southeast Asia. Priority is given to basic necessities, and for the rest, people do not have the head to buy.”Working just in time, Emeline Moutarde puts her situation into perspective:“I have no store, so no rent to pay, and very little inventory. I take advantage of this forced break to work on my site, or make my product sheets, activities for which I don't have much time, and teach my 3-year-old daughter“, Underlines with philosophy this kindergarten teacher converted to sewing.
Some of Sew Francisco's designs were sold at the Mini-Chic children's clothing store in Castro. The store closed on Sunday March 15: “It was the right thing to do, everyone has to do their part“, Says its owner, Coralie Tran. ” I made the decision to close for my health and the health of others. In addition, we had already seen a drop in attendance in recent weeks."The future remains uncertain, due to the high rents that must continue to be paid:"The city has to release funds to help small businesses, but even with $ 10,000, it’s not much. If this crisis lasts two weeks, we can get out of it. One month, I don't know …”
At Gazette, we are also worried about having to pay rent without being able to open the shop for several weeks. Located in Hayes Valley, the store of clothes, beauty products and accessories made in France also had to lower its curtain, following the confinement decreed Monday, January 16. “Last week, more than 90% of independent traders in the neighborhood announced their intention to stay open. We have exorbitant rents to pay, and without sales, it’s very difficult. I have two employees that I had to put on leave without pay until April 7, and I try to negotiate a rent reduction with my landlord“, Reports the founder of Gazette, Charlotte Boëdec. She is counting on the online store to bounce back: “It's a bit of a gamble, because I don't sell necessities, but first I'm going to focus on repeat customers, and offer two-hour delivery to San Francisco. I would also like to encourage customers to buy gift cards as this will allow us to cash in immediately and survive during these uncertain times.“
