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SAN ANTONIO – In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, some restaurants have started selling groceries and other supplies like gloves and toilet paper to customers. Governor Greg Abbott opened the door to the practice last week when he waived restrictions that prevent restaurants from selling bulk items from distributors directly to consumers.
Several San Antonio-area eateries are selling supplies to consumers. Click "Continue Reading" for the ones KSAT found online. Foresite would like to add to this list: First Course Salad Kitchen (22015 W I-10 Suite 107) and The County Line (check location availability). Submit your restaurant or favorite local spots selling these goods to add the this list on the retailer's Facebook Group.
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Their seats spread far apart from each other, Bexar County commissioners on Tuesday approved a loan program to tide small business owners over amid the economic strife caused by the pandemic.
In an effort to practice social distancing, the commissioners sat in separate desks instead of on the dais at their regular Tuesday meeting. They discussed the “Stay Home, Work Safe” orders issued Monday by Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, which directs people to stay home as much as possible to avoid spreading COVID-19. “Basically, what we’re trying to do in the order is try to get a balance as best as we can between the public health challenge and the economic consequences of that,” Wolff said. “The order is telling people to stay at home unless they’ve got an essential trip or they’re one of the employees designated by their business to be there.” In a time of such uncertainty where restaurants are experiencing mandated shutdowns in cities and states across the country and the industry is facing a loss of $225 billion as a result, according to the National Restaurant Association, it is more important than ever for brands to engage and communicate with their customers effectively.
These are unprecedented times, with neighboring restaurants all facing similar challenges, so having an authentic way to remind guests that you’re open is critical for building brand loyalty in our current environment. We’ve laid out our top five best practices for restaurants to communicate with customers through this uncharted territory to ensure they engage consumers and take every step to survive through COVID-19 and beyond. Deliver a Customer-First Message Customers need reassurance during times of uncertainty. To reiterate your support, state your commitment to the health and safety of your employees, customers and community, and your compliance with public health guidelines. It is important to outline clear steps being taken to address all possible concerns. Safe to say, the world as it is today is a vastly different place than it was when you first signed your commercial lease. Unforeseeable circumstances— sometimes referred to as ‘force majeure’ or ‘acts of god’— have a way of complicating business. With the recent social distancing and subsequent economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, many restaurants find themselves struggling to stay afloat.
One of the most crucial issues to deal with is how to make your contractual payments— such as your lease expenses— when your company is bringing in little to no revenue. There are very few businesses that can afford to sustain these payments during times of extreme economic stagnation. While it can seem harsh for your landlord to keep demanding payments, it has to be remembered that they’re in a similar situation. Landlords also have large expenses, such as property insurance and mortgages, that they need to make monthly payments on; they rely on collecting rent from to make those payments. Business as we know it will change after the COVID-19 pandemic. This year will be the year that changed the trajectory of e-commerce, telemedicine and remote work. I have the privilege to work with one of the true pioneers in the world of digital commerce. So, naturally, I wanted to learn more about his thoughts regarding e-commerce. But surprisingly, the more I engaged with my friend and colleague, I found myself more interested in his point of view on how small business owners can coping with these unsettling and difficult times.
Vinod Kumar is the Head of Business Insights for Salesforce Commerce Cloud. As an early member of the Demandware team, the fastest-growing enterprise e-commerce platform that was acquired by Salesforce in 2016 to become Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Kumar has had courtside seats to the evolution of ecommerce. He led the roll-out of industry-first E-commerce Benchmarking that enabled Commerce Cloud customers to compare their business performance with an anonymized peer group of sites. His responsibilities include leveraging data science to distill actionable insights from anonymized shopping behavior gleaned from almost a billion online shoppers. He is an occasional blogger and frequent keynote speaker at industry conferences. When not pouring through digital commerce data, Kumar can be found pouring cappuccino in his local coffee shop that he owns and manages along with his wife in the town of Stoneham, Mass. So by day, he is a digital commerce scientist, technologist, and futurist, guiding some of the biggest global brands on the Salesforce customer success platform, and by weekends he is working alongside his wife to own and operate a small business during a major crisis. I asked Kumar to share his advice with other businesses owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sam’s Club Giving and the Walmart Foundation have awarded an $800,000 grant to LiftFund to extend its reach in providing small business loans and educational resources to small business owners with a portion of the funds dedicated to helping veterans.
“Sam’s Club and Walmart are committed to helping small business owners succeed,” Anne Hatfield, Walmart spokesperson said. “We support the great work LiftFund is doing for small business owners in San Antonio and hope this grant will help provide them with the education and the tools they need to run and grow their companies.” LiftFund is proud to continue supporting entrepreneurs through the grant, and will dedicate a portion of the funds to veteran programming and services. This weekend, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban took to LinkedIn to answer questions from small business owners about what to do during the escalating coronavirus outbreak.
Cuban, who has been vocal about the importance of supporting small businesses during this time, prioritized questions about how to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions. His post had over 6,000 comments by Monday, with many of his followers popping in with their own advice. Experiment with new ideas “If you can find other services to offer, do it,” Cuban wrote in response to a question specifically about avoiding layoffs in the event industry, as trade shows, sporting events and concerts are being canceled. “Since you have holes in your schedule, it’s a great time to experiment with new lines of business and see what sticks.” SAN ANTONIO – The restaurant industry is taking a hard hit right now as dining areas must remain closed because of emergency measures taken due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the dine-in ban, some eateries in San Antonio are coming up with unique ways to stay open. Here’s a list of what they are doing:
These are the businesses that are/are not exempt in San Antonio’s ‘Stay Home, Work Safe’ orders3/25/2020 SAN ANTONIO – “Stay Home, Work Safe” emergency orders issued by San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff went into effect Tuesday night, but many people are still left with questions about which businesses must close and which are exempt. In terms of enforcement, Bexar County is going to mirror efforts by the City of San Antonio, according to Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales. “We’re not going to be looking to enforce violations,” Gonzales said. “We are going to operate under the assumption that you have a legitimate need to be out on the street.”...
San Antonio residents ordered to stay at home except for crucial errands, businesses What businesses are prohibited from operating under the emergency order?
One of my favorite Small Business Development Center counselors, Rita Mitchell from the SBDC in Hattiesburg, Mississippi has passed along tips from top retailers for “fighting back” against the coronavirus (COVID-19).
With the coronavirus pandemic bearing down hard upon us, employers are justifiably concerned, if not on the verge of panic, about the potentially catastrophic impact on their employees and businesses. Make no mistake about it, the coronavirus pandemic is a crisis in every sense of the word: a public health and safety crisis, an economic crisis, a social and psychological crisis, a threat to all we hold dear. In just a few short days, it has brought government agencies, many public services, schools, both public and private, and businesses to a screeching halt and is threatening to devastate the lives of any employer’s most valuable asset, its employees. To minimize the impact, it is imperative that employers adopt and implement a plan for crisis management and recovery. And each aspect of your plan must take into account both the practical realities and applicable federal and state labor and employment laws to ensure success and avoid any employment-related lawsuits or agency enforcement actions.
Determine individual crisis management responsibilities. If facing a suspension or curtailment of operations (that’s most of us), identify all employees who are essential to each continuing essential business function, determine whether they will be needed on-site or can work remotely, make sure they have the necessary tools and resources if working remotely, and clearly communicate their areas of accountability and responsibility and how to perform their duties effectively During this period of uncertainty, we wanted to provide the world with some valuable insights into the current state of the retail landscape. Our hope is that the community can tap into these insights to keep the current pulse of the market.
With that, we're excited to announce the launch of our COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Retail Impact Tracker, free for all. This powerful tool allows anyone to quickly analyze the impact the Coronavirus has had on over 70 top brands within the retail, restaurant, and amusement industries. Compare how daily foot traffic has changed (year-over-year) in correlation to the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in that region. Through the dashboard, users can can analyze the performance of major brands like Walmart, McDonald's, Ulta Beauty and Macy's on both a national and/or state level. Our hope is that this data will allow our customers, users and community to make more informed decisions through these trying times and help prepare as we eventually return to normalcy. “Wash your hands!” My kids hear me say this all the time, but this week these three words have taken on a new meaning. Now washing your hands represents an important protective behavior against the coronavirus pandemic.
After getting home from school yesterday, I reminded my children, as per usual, to wash their hands, but this time I stressed, “for at least 20 seconds because we need to be extra vigilant against getting the coronavirus.” My generally cool-as-a-cucumber son immediately replied, “I don’t want to hear about that anymore!” While we are all adjusting to social distancing and self-quarantining as adults, do we realize how this may be creating anxiety in our children? It was my son’s abrupt response that made me pause and reflect about how other children are coping with the unpredictability of the pandemic. I realized that while I limit the amount of news my children watch, they must have been inundated with information all week as their teachers diligently shared information about the pandemic while encouraging hygienic behavior in the classroom. And now their school was closing for at least two weeks! There would be a disruption in their day and simply missing their friends that would induce anxious feelings that they may struggle to articulate. Employment Issues During the Fast-Changing COVID-19 Response: A Risk Readiness Webinar EXTRA3/20/2020 Since March 11, U.S. employers have gone from planning for a possible pandemic to widespread voluntary self-isolation, and increasing mandatory government restrictions to try to limit the spread of COVID-19. Many business have seen dramatic drops in customers. This webinar will provide practical answers to the most common questions facing employers, and a high-level analysis of any new federal legislation.
Format: Webinar Date: March 24, 2020 Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET iHeartMedia launched this incredible tool to keep up to date restaurant information. Add your restaurant for your customers so they are able to know exactly when and how they can get their hands on your grub!
Grub to Go is a source for restaurant hours, delivery options and menus during the Corona Outbreak. This page is being pushed out to all of the broadcasting stations. San Antonio Restaurants - What's Open and Delivery Options. If you own a restaurant, we are here to help. Click here and give us your info. |
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This website is underwritten by Foresite Commercial Real Estate to provide a a non-profit resource to the retail industry impacted by COVID-19. If you would like to support this resource please do so by purchasing goods or services from a local retailer near you.
