About half of all small businesses in danger of failing during pandemic, survey finds

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5 years ago Curated by Theresa Wysocki

Photo caption: Celene Navarrete, left, and Chiara Arroyo in front of their LA Libreria bookstore in the Mid-City neighborhood. They have cut half their staff and used a loan to pay their rent during the state-ordered shutdown of most businesses.(Sergio Lopez). Article by Kevin Baxter.

Carlos Marroquin dropped wearily onto a wooden bench in the center of the tiny Newhall soccer shop to which he has poured 15 years of his life and all of his resources.

“I’ve never felt as a scared as I do right now,” he said, unsmiling eyes peeking out from above a cloth face covering. “I pray to survive. I don’t know if I will.”

Marroquin’s shop, Planet Soccer, weathered the 2008 recession, nearby wildfires and a recent roof collapse caused by heavy rains. But all that pales in comparison to the hit his store, and most small businesses, have taken during the shutdown ordered two months ago by Gov. Gavin Newsom in response to the spread of COVID-19. […]

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