An Asbury Park shopping district decimated by civil unrest 50 years ago had crawled its way back to a palpable level of vibrancy when Hurricane Sandy dealt another paralyzing blow in October 2012.
But as bad as Sandy was for the local Asbury Park economy, the devastation left behind by the coronavirus outbreak stands to be even worse.
“That wasn’t as scary as this because once the storm was over, you could assess the damage and have an idea of what was going to happen,” said Sylvia Sylvia, executive director of the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce. “This is a much bigger fight because there are so many unknowns.”
Farther north, in Elizabeth, the challenges faced by hundreds of small businesses scattered throughout the state’s fourth-largest city were steep even before the strike of COVID-19 on account of unemployment and poverty rates that typically exceed the national level.
Now, a small-business community that already was relatively slow to embrace technology finds itself in a situation where survival will be tied directly to its ability to adapt quickly and efficiently to new safety requirements and necessary communication upgrades.
“They’re having to think in a new way that they never even conceptualized for their operation. It’s a learning curve, and we’re working closely with the municipality to try to extend the message to our chamber members,” said Jennifer Costa, president and CEO of the Greater Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce.
The small businesses of Asbury Park, Elizabeth and every other municipality across the Garden State all need help, and they need it now.
So, with Gov. Murphy’s announcement Monday allowing for non-essential companies to partially reopen by offering curbside pickup, the State Chamber of Commerce has launched a campaign to promote the support of New Jersey businesses in general, and those in and around our own neighborhoods in particular.
“For the reopening of New Jersey’s economy to succeed, small businesses must succeed,” said New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Bracken, almost two full months after companies deemed as non-essential were forced to shut their doors.
“In 2019, there were more than 860,000 small businesses in New Jersey employing 1.8 million people — almost half of the private-sector workforce,” he said. “If the reopening of New Jersey’s economy is going to succeed, we need small businesses to get back on their feet quickly. One way to help stimulate additional revenues for small business is to ‘Buy NJ.’ We should all look first to buy goods and services from New Jersey-based small business when and where we can.”
For Sylvia, the voice of local hero Bruce Springsteen pouring onto Ocean Avenue from the Stone Pony could not be sweeter music to her ears.
Only a day or so before the “Buy NJ” campaign was announced, Sylvia created her own shopping pitch with “Be Vocal, Buy Local,” a catchy slogan you can almost hear the Boss crooning (“Well, I’m riding down Kingsley, figuring I’ll get some jeans. Be Vocal, Buy Local, as long as you’ve got the means.”).
And now the state has a pitch, too? Sylvia does not mind the company.
“I will piggyback on anything the state does to promote this,” she said. “And whatever resources you have with ‘Buy NJ,’ I will hashtag the hell out of it.”
Some 45 miles north, Costa sang a similar tune about this new initiative that implicitly says to stop dot.comming Amazon and Wayfair for a while and place a pickup order for one of the independent clothing shops or electronic stores on Broad Street.
“I think now more than ever our small and local businesses are needing the chambers and are looking to us for leadership,” Costa said. “More than ever for our State Chamber to take the initiative push to buy local, I think it’s so important.
“It comes at such a time when we really do need to come together and stick together in emphasizing now important local shopping is. A mayor’s task force (Chris Bollwage of Elizabeth) was started to put together the plan to help our local businesses open. We’re trying to gather as much information and also to prepare the local businesses.”
Of course, that is a multi-pronged challenge now that even the wrath of Sandy could not match. When the water receded and order was restored in downtown Asbury Park, patrons who had grown to love the eclectic energy of the area were eager to return to enjoy a craft brew or buy flip flops and sunglasses for a stroll on the boardwalk.
With New Jersey’s unemployment rate now at a staggering 15.3%, many of those prospective shoppers will be watching their discretionary spending even closer than the next hurricane forecast.
“It sucks,” Sylvia said. “You don’t have to be diplomatic about this. It’s awful. But you have to be real about it in Asbury Park because that’s what the people here relate to. Just be real. There is beauty in that.
“These real people have come up through such challenges, not little road bumps,” she said. “These are challenges of economic devastation, and not being able to convince consumers that it’s okay to come back. Then all of the sudden — really after decades of trying — people started having confidence again.
“And we’ll do that again. Once these people have done that, they’re not going to give it up. It’s a very indomitable spirit that is common to the Asbury Park business owner, and a lot of them live in town, too. They are doubly invested.”
Just how indomitable is that spirit in the night?
“I did a survey last week to my business communities asking them certain questions; one of them being, ‘How confident are you that you will reopen?’ “Sylvia said. “I thought I was going to get like 50-50 of people saying I don’t think I can reopen or it’s unlikely.
“I didn’t get a single one saying I can’t reopen. Not one.”
From a technology standpoint, the Asbury Park business community is plugged in up to date with the latest trends, Sylvia said. The rearview mirror in Asbury Park holds some frightful images; these eyes are peeled to what is up ahead.
“It’s a very proactive group,” she said. “So, I think everybody was anticipating at some point we were going to be able to do some kind of retail sales. It seemed to me the second that was available, the businesses seemed able to push the button and hit the ground running as soon as the governor said this is okay now. They were ready to go.”
Things are a bit more complicated in Elizabeth, where Spanish is the predominate language among the many mom-and-pop shops. Fortunately, several chamber members are bilingual, including Costa, who also speaks Portuguese along with Spanish and English.
Besides that, the basic concept of curbside pickup presents a mild dilemma for many of the store owners. Broad and East Grande streets and North Avenue, for example, are heavily traveled thoroughfares that sit just blocks away from Routes 1 and 9.
Not ideal for a curbside scenario. Many of the narrower arteries throughout this sprawling city could also create double-parking issues under the current parking arrangements.
“We were brainstorming some options we can consider with certain sections or parking spaces opening up, or certain sections near a parking deck so we can create a safe way that people can feel comfortable to do pickup, and have the right signage, as well,” Costa said.
But first, those store owners have to be introduced to some of the social platforms they will most assuredly need to keep customers informed.
“With these businesses now rethinking curbside pickup, they will need to have the tools to communicate,” Costa said. “I’ve reached out to Kean University (in Union, but bordering Elizabeth) and we’re going to put together a quick webinar on how you can do e-commerce in a very cost-effective manner.
“We’re trying to come up from every angle just to give them the resources that they need so they can get up and running as quickly as possible.”
Now that the State Chamber of Commerce has taken the lead with its “Buy NJ” campaign, it is the hope of Sylvia and Costa that a finish line — which really means getting back to pre-coronavirus sales — is reachable.
“I’m so glad they’re pushing the message, because it is vital for the survival of our businesses,” Costa said. “What the State Chamber is doing to kind of lead the initiative is very much appreciated by all of us and so very much needed.”
Sylvia added: “We’ll take anything that we can get that’s supporting the shopping and buying and keeping these businesses afloat until they become the same flourishing businesses that we once knew and loved and worked so hard to get.”