Some small businesses in Lincoln benefited from the city’s efforts to encourage shopping local.
Businesses around the world have been hit hard by this pandemic, with some having to close their doors for good. 87% of Nebraska businesses have been negatively impacted by the recent outbreak of the coronavirus according to the Lincoln Buy Local Policy. Some businesses, such as Francie and Finch Bookshop in Lincoln have ended the year in increased sales.
Leslie Huerta, owner of Francie and Finch Bookshop, said the support of Lincoln locals helped her business stay successful throughout the pandemic.
“There was just a huge outpouring of people intentionally looking to support local businesses that we benefited from, so we were very lucky,” Huerta said.
However, the bookshop wasn’t successful throughout the whole pandemic.
“There was a huge decrease [of sales] immediately, but then pretty quickly it ramped up and we actually ended the year with some increased sales,” Huerta said.
Huerta said that the nation’s stimulus checks gave the public opportunities to help support local businesses by buying things that they otherwise wouldn’t. She saw sales go up after the first stimulus check was distributed in April.
“There was an influx of some money to help [customers] out a little bit, so I think that made a really big difference to businesses,” Huerta said.
Huerta said local government was helpful throughout the pandemic and that the communication between government and businesses was strong.
“The city gave us a free meter parking spot for curbside pickup, and that was huge,” Huerta said. “That makes it so much easier for people to support us and come pick up their purchases.”
The city of Lincoln implemented a buy local city policy earlier in the month that was “designed to encourage departments and divisions to use their departmental purchase authority to support local businesses where possible and consistent with City Municipal Code,” according to the policy.
Huerta said that the national government helped her store at the beginning of the pandemic by giving the store small business grants.
“We took advantage of [the grants] for that first month, and they made a huge difference for us,” Huerta said.
The pandemic has been especially hard for new and upcoming businesses, such as Sassy B’s Delightful Desserts, which is a bakery run out of a food truck. Sabrina Spencer, the owner, said the growth of her business had been delayed because of the pandemic.
“I got the truck back in 2019, and I had several [events] lined up in 2020 that all got canceled,” Spencer said.
The city of Lincoln has been putting on different events and launching campaigns to help small businesses throughout this pandemic. Over the summer, Lancaster Event Center hosted the Food Truck Rodeo that featured local food trucks and live music from local bands.
Spencer’s truck was one of many at the Food Truck Rodeo throughout the summer. Spencer said that there wasn’t a big turnout at the event.
“People were still scared at that time, so the ones that did come out, I’d say that there were maybe 150 to 250 people,” Spencer said.
Even with the low turnout, Spencer said she is hopeful for the future and to continue growing her business.