By Mark F. Gray
AFRO Staff Writer
mgray@afro.com
The lights of commerce started coming back on again as Prince George’s County entered Phase Two of the slow return to normal business following the COVID-19 shutdown. After nearly three months of silence, “non essential businesses” such as barber shops, nail salons and retail stores opened with anxious customers returning to patronize service establishments around the County.
Most of the mainstream retailers, such as chain department stores, enjoyed opening with scores of patrons waiting behind pandemic recovery velvet ropes for half price sales events as shoppers capitalized on deals that were designed to clean out old stock. Retail chains, who took a beating in the second quarter, are pressed to move their second quarter inventory for spring and summer months are offering deals for many of those same customers, who now find themselves pressing a reset button on how things are being done.
While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Prince George’s County has entered Phase Two of reopening, with restrictions, such as Dr. Dexter McCrae of Lake Arbor Dental. (Courtesy Photo)
“When we opened on Tuesday there were so many people we actually shut the doors around 7 p.m., but we didn’t get out until about 11,” said a Ross inventory control employee who wished not to be identified at the Rivertowne Commons shopping center in Oxon Hill.
At Kettering Plaza in Largo, major department stores such as Ross reopened with people looking to take advantage of clearance sales as retailers looked to clear out stock that was cluttering space as they were waiting for deliveries for summer and fall merchandise, which hadn’t been on shelves since stores were closed after stay at home social distance measures were implemented in late March.
However, in Largo, the lines from another of the retailer’s stores stretched close to the Phoenix Salon Suites, a health and beauty incubator that is home to a group of professional barber and beauty shops. Most of those businesses are sole proprietorships that face greater challenges to comply with the Center for Disease Control’s new guidelines in wake of the pandemic. Despite being closed for over 90 days there were out of pocket business expenses in personal protective equipment (PPE) and more extensive disinfecting measures that forced many to invest after not generating revenue for more than three months.
“I spent about $500 just to restart, which was tough after not seeing any clients since March,” said nail technician Yasha Frazier, who is the owner of Splash Nail Boutique. “The new guidelines just heightened the basics for other owners to get back to putting more emphasis on hygiene, which is where it should’ve been all along. I’ve always been about that.”
“Our expenses increased by about 10 to 15 percent thanks to COVID-19,” Dr. Dexter McCrae, a partner in the Lake Arbor Dental Practice. “It does cost a little more than before since we’ve gone way beyond the CDC’s disinfecting guidelines by investing in defoggers and purifiers to ensure the safety of our patients.”
“The practice of dentistry remains the same, but we’ve created a place that is much cleaner and safer moving forward,” McCrae added.
While the practices remain the same, it’s the pragmatics that have changes for the smaller companies moving forward. There is now a greater emphasis on scheduling appointments for newer clients and patients. Waiting rooms are now deserted areas as these service industries no longer entertain clients; they service them expeditiously while not taking walk-in customers any longer. There will also be a greater reliance on word of mouth to expand and greater commitments to retention of the clientele for long term survival.
Lake Arbor Dental and Splash Nail Boutique have survived for more than a decade with those business practices which sustained them through the time when they were deemed non-essential services.
Celebrity stylist Renaldo Williams, whose clients include LeBron James, Wale, Nelly and former NBA guard Rod Strickland, already had a base of 2,000 clients and was able to withstand the financial hit better than most of his peers.
“It would have been a lot more difficult for me if I didn’t have a high end clientele,” said Williams. “But for others who are spending $2,000 – $3,000 monthly for rent they are hurting right now.”