Pandemic changed the face of Delaware businesses

By Logan B. Anderson, Mike Finney and Glenn Rolfe
Posted 3/14/22

It has been two years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

On Thursday, the Delaware General Assembly unanimously passed a measure declaring March 11, as …

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Pandemic changed the face of Delaware businesses

Posted

It has been two years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

On Thursday, the Delaware General Assembly unanimously passed a measure declaring March 11, as COVID-19 Remembrance Day in the state of Delaware. The measure aims to honor those who were lost to the virus and those who stood on the frontlines to protect others from it.

During the last 24 months, Delaware’s business community has been on a roller coaster, suffering some drastic lows and dramatic highs.

Some industries were hit much harder than others. While the pandemic and the associated lockdown inspired many to pivot or finally start long-planned business ventures, other businesses that couldn’t adapt saw devastating losses.

Delaware’s restaurant and hospitality industry was ravaged during the toughest parts of the last two years.

Ups and downs

According to the Delaware Restaurant Association, eateries in the First State lost $1.2 billion in sales from March 2020 to February 2021. More than 10,000 workers lost their jobs.

In contrast, the total business entities in the state grew in 2020 and 2021, according to the Delaware Department of State. As of 2020, 1.6 million legal entities incorporated in the First State. As of February 2022, that number has climbed to more than 1.8 million.

Delaware is unique in that many businesses not located in the state choose to incorporate here, so those numbers may not reflect what may be happening in the state’s 57 incorporated municipalities, but the benefits of that growth are felt by the state as a whole in corporate tax and fee revenues.

The number of new business licenses also grew significantly during the pandemic. From 2019 to 2020, Delaware issued 22,838 licenses according to the Delaware’s Department of Revenue. That’s more than double the 2018 to 2019 numbers — 10,584.

In January 2021, Delaware’s unemployment rate was at 6%. In 2022, it’s down to 4.8%.

Middletown’s Marlene Hyman-Zincke was one of those new business owners who found inspiration to start a new business because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After serving more than two decades caring for people as a military nurse and treating patients with COVID-19, she sat down with her family and had an “extensive” talk, telling them it was time to open a restaurant.

“I’m originally from Jamaica. I have 23 years in the military and 22 years as a nurse. After COVID last year, I decided I don’t want to wait anymore. I am going to open the restaurant,” she said in November when she opened for business.

She opened Jamaican Jammin Flavors with her husband Wesley.

Doings in Dover

Diane Laird, executive director of the Downtown Dover Partnership, said the art of running a successful business has definitely changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago.

“No question that businesses have struggled, and unfortunately downtown (Dover) lost a few in the last year,” Ms. Laird said. “Others continue to hold steady, and many have instituted new procedures and options that will forever change the way they do business, such as curbside delivery and online shopping.

“Operating with fewer employees has been a challenge. Fortunately, many have been able to take advantage of funds available through government agencies to remedy some of the overall loss.”

Now, with COVID numbers finally showing signs of dwindling, Ms. Laird said her biggest concerns currently lie with the rapid rate of inflation and how it is affecting household expenditures.

“Nevertheless, we are optimistic that with the mask mandate lifted and weather beginning to warm, there will some more foot traffic,” she said. “Events like the St. Patricks’ Day Parade, Dover Days, History, Heritage and Hops, Fourth of July celebrations and others will encourage people to come downtown.

“We are still considering the viability of running the Capital City Farmers Market because we want to ensure success for both vendors and visitors and it is still unpredictable.”

Ms. Laird said despite the many challenges faced in downtown Dover over the past two years, things like the opening of an artisans market on Loockerman Street last year shows that some business owners are surprisingly ready to launch businesses during challenging times.

“We anticipate the opening of several restaurants (in downtown Dover) in 2022, including La Hacienda at 33 West Loockerman, and the new Jackson House at Governor’s Café,” she said.

The outlets in downtown Dover that closed or were forced to change how they do business during the course of the pandemic included Brooks Barber Shop, SOZO, Bel Boutique (moved to online only), 33 West, Rebel Cove (in and out same year), Governor’s Café, Caribbean Market and Bayard Pharmacy.

Meanwhile, Lashes (Sovereign Beauty) and Black Swamp Farmstead Artisans Market opened despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Sussex impact

In Sussex County, Ken Adams felt every rise and fall during the pandemic across all of his businesses.

Mr. Adams ventures include the Stockley Tavern, JD Shuckers and Stockley Materials.

“The biggest impact was on the tavern for me businesswise. We are on a path back to some sort of normalcy. How well we come out of this is still yet to be written. Every time we see a glimmer of hope, there is another setback it seems like. Of course, now we are dealing with food costs that are just ridiculous. It’s almost like we are going from one set of circumstances to another. The next challenge is cost and inflation … and supply chains. I am very cautious in my outlook,” he said.

Stockley Materials, with three locations in Sussex County, deal in stone, mulch and other landscaping materials.

“It wasn’t impacted as much. And when people were working from home, or couldn’t work, it actually helped us. People were doing projects as strange as it seems,” Mr. Adams said.

Baker’s Hardware in Millsboro stayed open throughout the pandemic. The store supplies everything from food to emergency equipment for fire departments.

“I can tell you it has been the toughest two years in business that I have ever lived through. From emotions with employees, emotions from customers, and not to even mention the product availability, which has been, continues to be, and for the near future and sadly, I think, for quite some yet, we are still going to have product availability across the board. And I don’t mean just outdoor power equipment. But barbecue grills and paint, getting the quality ingredients for the Benjamin Moore paints is an uphill battle. And Benjamin Moore will not put out paint unless it is perfect. It has been tough,” said Bob Ricker, co-owner of Baker’s Hardware.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government launched several loan and stimulus programs to help bolster the economy while the world braced itself due to the virus.

Harbeson’s JennyGems, owned by Jenny McMillan and her husband David McMillan, embraced the spirit of change and reached out for support after feeling like their roller coaster fell far and might not come back up.

Before the pandemic, the small home décor company and retail store had three employees. Global shutdowns meant the firm couldn’t fill orders, so it had to lay off all their workers.

Unsure when the world may reopen, the McMillans chose to pivot and manufacture their own décor items.

In March of 2020, their new manufacturing equipment arrived but they didn’t know how to operate it. The couple took to YouTube to learn as much as they could and set to work.

“It was me and my husband running our operation, handling all the orders online, which our orders dropped almost to nothing overnight. We just came back fighting, going on social media campaigns, doing live videos, because we had risked everything to make our own products here. We were like, ‘Well, what do we have to lose?’ We spent all this crazy amount of money on this equipment, so we went crazy on social media and our sales starting picking up,” Ms. McMillan said.

Their gamble paid off.

“Our sales are 40% over last year, this year. It was the best decision for us. We are doing great. We have now have 22 employees. But we’re shorthanded. We actually need many more but we’re having a hard time getting staff,” she said.

They took advantage of a low-interest loan and emergency funding from the Small Business Administration.

“We’re in the old Donut Connection in Harbeson. It’s a 7,000-square-foot facility. However, we’ve outgrown this building, so we are actually moving to the Delaware Coastal Business Park (near Georgetown). We have three-acre property, and we’re have about 13,000 square foot warehouse – with room to grow.”

While business owners were busy trying to adapt, support agencies like chambers of commerce were hard at it trying to help.

“We were really lucky in our area that we didn’t have businesses close. And the two that did close were not due to the pandemic,” said Linda Price, director/president Greater Georgetown Chamber of Commerce.

“I think it was a year of learning how to do things differently and finding ways to come together to make sure that we supported each other.”

Now that COVID-19 numbers are starting to dip, folks like Ms. Price are starting to see business starting to rise.

“We see things that are coming to life. We’re getting a new Wawa. We’re getting a Camping World. Things have been progressing to bring businesses.”

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