NEW ORLEANS — Despite the pandemic, the National Retail Federation is forecasting strong holiday sales this year which could finish three to five percent higher than in 2019.
As we near what traditionally has been the most important period for retail, some local small businesses are hoping for your support. At Hemline in Metairie, Leslie White says her clothing store is remarkably weathering COVID-19’s financial storm.
“We do a lot more online sales, phone sales, shipping has increased four times that we normally do,” said White.
Just as the holiday shopping season is about to go in full swing, Louisiana is falling back to phase 2 of reopening, and with it, a requirement on retail stores to limit their capacity to 50-percent.
“It’s a little scary, it definitely changes the environment that we can operate in. I need my employees to be able to come in here and feel safe. We actually lost one employee recently because she didn’t feel safe working through the holidays, which is understandable,” White said.
To meet the state’s restrictions, the store is planning to move some of its racks and even fitting rooms on to the sidewalk to limit the number of customers moving through the store. At Pop City in New Orleans, it’s a much different and emptier scenario. Rhonda Findley says the pandemic is strangling sales at her small business.
“How are we weathering the storm? I would say very precariously, we’re looking at a long-range vision as a small business owner. We’re working every day but essentially we’re unemployed. That’s the reality,” said Findley.
When tourism declined, she and her business partner had to close their other store. For almost 18 years, Fun Rock’n was located on Magazine Street, but Findley says there just wasn’t enough revenue to keep the doors open.
“Tourism just didn’t drop off, tourism essentially, by no choice of anybody who was in a decision-making position, tourism ended. Thus that chokehold on small business here in Orleans Parish,” said Findley.
With Black Friday and Small Business Saturday approaching, the National Retail Federation predicts sales to rebound. It’s a prediction these two business owners hope will come true.
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