COVID-19 has caused local businesses to suffer everywhere, but especially those closest to college campuses are seeing the greatest challenge. With all ASU students given the option to take classes online, downtown Phoenix and Tempe businesses are suffering as a result.
Jackson Chao owns three BoSa Donut shops throughout the Phoenix area, with one being at the Arizona Center, near the downtown ASU campus. He said his business revenue has decreased by 80% since the pandemic started due to the decrease in foot traffic.
“We just opened our business to make sure our employees had a job,” Chao said. Even so, Chao added that not all employees are willing to come back, opting to apply for unemployment instead.
Previously, each store had between five and eight employees; now, each store has one to three per location. Chao said that they rely on ASU students and office workers.
His businesses received the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, but “all that money is not enough,” Chao said. He received one payment of $10,000 in the form of a grant, which is not a lot for all three locations. He received $150,000 of loans with an interest rate of 3.75%, and he will pay back over the next 30 years.
Chao has no idea how long he can maintain a business like this.
“Right now, we keep losing and losing from our pocket,” Chao says.
Also at the Arizona Center is Kwench Juice Cafe, which temporarily closed due to the pandemic; after a trial reopening in July, it appears they have closed their doors again.
Paola Cicuttini, the vice president of marketing and corporate communications at Parallel Capital Partners in the One Arizona Center building, has confirmed many businesses have shut down due to the pandemic.
The Arizona Center is taking extra precautions to stop the spread of the virus, Cicuttini said in an email. There are social distancing markers placed around the plaza, required masks and a Plasma Air filter placed in the One Arizona Center building.
In Tempe, businesses seem to experience similar struggles.
Abby Burns is an employee at King Coffee on Mill Avenue, right across from the Tempe campus, and has been with the company since last fall. The coffee shop closed from March until ASU started up again in the fall, due to the pandemic. Many of the cafe’s customers are ASU students, but Burns also says the store has a good amount of regulars.
“Some days feel like normal, usually those are weekdays. Students will come in between classes. Our weekends are a little bit slower,” Burns said.
The Baked Bear, also on Mill Avenue, closed its doors back in July. The business has given no indication on when it could be reopening in the future.
Contact the reporter at edhortar@asu.edu.
