Nearly one year into the pandemic, many businesses in downtown Columbus are still in survival mode as they wait for the downtown workforce and other customers to return.
For months, many of these businesses have been on life support, receiving federal aid or low-interest loans from the city of Columbus to pay employees and stay afloat after COVID-19 tore through the community and people were ordered to stay home, forcing businesses to close or reorganize operations.
At one point last year, Google reported that foot traffic to retailers and recreation sites dropped 48% in Bartholomew County compared to pre-pandemic levels — a stark contrast from the usual bevy of workers from Cummins and other companies who would frequent restaurants, shops and other businesses over the course of the work day before the pandemic.
The absence of workers has been felt by local business owners, who said sales have been down as much as 30% to 60% at times during the pandemic and are wondering when and how quickly downtown Columbus will bounce back.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Cummins, which employs about 8,000 people in the Columbus area, many of whom are still working from home, is in the process of determining what its work arrangements will be as the pandemic subsides and it might be safe to return to the office.
Company spokesman Jon Mills said Cummins intends to send people back to its downtown offices but “just how many and when exactly and how we do it is still being kind of evaluated.”
The extent to which the downtown workforce returns may “challenge everyone to look at their business model and how can we attract other people downtown,” said Diane Robbins, president of the Downtown Business Association.
“(The lack of workers downtown) has definitely had a negative impact on the merchants,” Robbins said. “…It’s just a positive energy when you have Cummins employees and SIHO employees and other groups strolling around downtown. We’ve missed it, and everyone is very excited for that energy to return.”
Jay Cole, owner of Gramz Bakery and Cafe, 409 Washington St., said the number of workers downtown is “definitely going to have an impact” on business.
Cole said he has adjusted his business hours and is already making plans in the event that “the bulk of (downtown workers) will be staying at home.”
“Before, when you’ve got so many people in downtown that were just coming in constantly, you don’t think about having to do anything different than that. It just is what it is, right?” Cole said. “And so now what we’re doing is going more to the community and building the business around the community itself and that’s already happening.”
In October, Cole purchased a coffee roasting company in Indianapolis and plans to locate it on Central Avenue. He hopes to use it as springboard of sorts to promote his other business to people who might not get downtown a whole lot.
“That’s where we’re kind of headed with it, not put all our eggs in one basket and kind of diversify a little bit,” Cole said. “…We have no intention of going anywhere.”
Tom Dell, co-owner of Dell Brothers, which sells formal men’s clothing at 416 Washington St., said he other downtown business owners are in a “quandary” as they try to survive while charting a course through a business and economic climate nobody has experienced before.
“To some degree, now that it has been almost a year, we’ve disrupted shopping habits and patterns, and even as we go forward, that could have an adverse effect on the way we operate businesses and the way business is just going to be done going forward, no matter if even some of the folks come back,” Dell said.
Dell, who is a city councilman, said the past year has been very difficult for his company, with business during the Christmas season down, at one point, almost 60% compared to prior years.
Wedding bookings are down and the weddings that have gone forward typically have included fewer people to comply with public health orders, Dell said.
Additionally, Dell is waiting to see if the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. is going to be able to hold some sort of prom this year, which also has been a source of business for him in the past through the need for tuxedos.
Dell Brothers, which was founded in 1916, survived the Spanish flu pandemic.
“(My grandparents) hadn’t dealt with anything like that either,” Dell said. “All of that was uncharted for them, and it’s uncharted for us now.”
But even when the pandemic starts to subside, the extent to which people resume their pre-pandemic shopping habits is unclear. Also, Dell wonders if curbside pickup will continue to be part of how business is conducted after the pandemic and whether business will continue shifting online.
“What everybody says is there’s going to be pent-up demand,” Dell said. “I don’t think that pent-up demand is just going to get released like you’re taking a plug out of a bathroom tub and watching the water run through it real fast. I think it’s going to be real slow. I think it’s going to be methodical.”
The Downtown Business Association, however, is planning to start holding events later this year to try to encourage people to come downtown to shop, depending on public health guidance and recommendations from the Bartholomew County Health Department, Robbins said.
The first event, a “spring spritz,” is already planned for April 22, which will include food and drinks from participating merchants, Robbins said.
But as the pandemic drags on, downtown businesses are trying to stay optimistic.
“We don’t know what the new normal is because right now it’s so abnormal,” Dell said. “We can look forward to things maybe being better, but we don’t know what that’s going to be like.”
