FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – 2020 is a year many small businesses would like to forget.
Along Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, many businesses opened up their doors Friday, hoping to score some extra, Christmas day foot traffic.
“It has definitely been hard times, especially with the lockdown,” Erika Del Rio executive director of the Las Olas Association, said.
Del Rio is the head of the boulevard’s business association.
While she says things are certainly better than they were in March, small businesses are still hurting.
“We are definitely doing better than back then. I mean, it was a rough time,” she said.
Which is why they’re trying to court customers, using special events and promotions, while also following the CDC guidelines and enforcing mask mandates.
She said promotions at different restaurants along Las Olas helped.
“We had a cute, little elf hunt. People would come out; they weren’t scared,” she said.
According to a nationwide survey, only a third of small business owners are currently turning a profit. Compare that to the same time last year, when more than half were in the black.
That’s one reason congress passed a new, $900 billion COVID relief package, the fate of which still remains in limbo, following threats from the President Trump to veto it.
On Las Olas, businesses are banking on a more profitable 2021 and want customers to that they are open for business.
One shopper said he was out on Christmas Day to support local businesses.
“You gotta do what you gotta do to support the locals. And that’s what we’re all, all of us, here are trying to do,” Steve M. said.