The crisis wreaks havoc on his coffee business, but his commitment and the loyalty of his customers keep him afloat
Lillian Sears was just 17 years old when poverty and war forced her to flee her native El Salvador in 1980. With her baby in her arms, she decided to seek better opportunities in the United States.
Forty years later, she is proud to say that she has achieved her own American Dream with personal and professional stability.
She says that she remarried, has three children and owns Coffee Corner, located in Farmers Market (Fairfax district in Los Angeles).
After arriving in Los Angeles from El Salvador, she lived with family for a time but later moved in with a friend. He worked nights cleaning offices and left his son in the care of a person he hardly knew.
The idea of leaving his son, who was an infant, with strangers at night did not please him much. In 1984 a friend mentioned the opportunity to work during the day in a cafe.
“When I arrived and saw the coffee, it didn’t look very good,” recalled the 58-year-old Salvadoran. “When I applied for the job, my boss asked me, ‘Why do you want to work here?’ I didn’t tell him why, but in my mind I was already remodeling the place. “
He worked hard there for 14 years and his efforts were not in vain. In 1998, the boss was finally ready to retire and decided to sell him his business.
The boss told Sears that he saw the tenacity and effort he put into his work, which was perfect for the Coffee Corner, which was established in 1946, to continue serving the community.
Facing the pandemic
In the more than 20 years that Sears has owned the business, it has remodeled it three times. The menu in the bread section has changed and improved and has included more drinks.
Until early 2020, she had seven employees, some of whom had already worked with her for several years.
By early March, his employees began to hear constantly that the coronavirus pandemic was severely attacking the nation.
“But I had no idea that they were going to go out of business,” Sears said.
Because the cafe is installed outside and was considered “essential”, health officials allowed it to remain open. However, the lack of customers severely affected the business.
“When I arrived one of the days and saw all the tables and chairs removed outside, it made me want to cry. [El negocio] it’s been my life, ”said Sears.
They decided to continue working but after three weeks, the Salvadoran saw sales drop, down to 20%, and had to begin to rest workers.
“It broke my heart but I couldn’t have them. I was left with only two employees ”, recalled the owner.
An impulse arrives
Their hours were extended. He says he started working seven days a week, 12 hours a day.
She even assured that there were several occasions that she could barely pay her employees but that she was not enough to pay herself.
Soon after, he was able to apply for small business aid from the federal government and that helped him get up a little higher.
As the months passed, the new normal began to arrive and with it sales also rose. He indicated that they are currently at 75% of sales and he has managed to hire six of his employees again.
To his good fortune, Sears said that no one in his family has caught COVID-19 but he has had friends who have been affected and have even lost family members.
After six months of pandemic, he confesses that he has learned to value many things and that the most valuable experience that this crisis leaves him is that you have to save.
“People receive their checks and go to buy unnecessary things. We all learn to spend money but not all of us know how to save ”, he stresses.
Hispanic pride
Sears is proud to have been able to share the joy of the American Dream with her family. Over the years, she was able to reunite everyone in America, nine siblings and their parents.
The latter arrived in 1991. His father passed away 16 years later. Her mother became a US citizen a decade ago.
“I think I gave them a better life, not a life of riches, but a better life than they had in El Salvador,” Sears said.
Today he advises his fellow business owners not to give up during the pandemic and work hard as they did in the beginning when they started their businesses.
“If you have to work yourself, do it for now. It will not be forever ”.
“But above all, appreciate your customers, treat them with respect, treat them well because we are in business because of our customers, the people who are loyal. People who come here and spend what little money they have on their business and loyalty is very important. “
