PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The coronavirus outbreak is disrupting the global economy, including small businesses in the Delaware Valley.
Matt Gambone said his company, Macktechs Manayunk, is feeling the firsthand effects of the coronavirus' economic impact.
His business depends on getting phone and computer parts from China to fix broken devices, but production has been shut down, and parts aren't being manufactured.
"It's hitting us pretty hard. We're kind of restricted on the parts that we can get right now. We've stocked up as much as we could, we brought as many parts as we could to try and fill in for what we're going to miss for production," he said.
Gambone said they're already running short on parts and have had to turn some customers away. And the ones they are able to service are seeing a steeper price tag on their orders.
"We're going to have to increase the cost of our repairs, and that's going to hurt our customers. They don't want to spend an astronomical amount of money to fix a phone that used to be $100 repair, now it's a $200 repair. That's not worth it," he added.
Gambone said they were initially told parts would be back in production March 1, but that date has been pushed to early April, making him worry about the future of his business.
"We might have to close the offic. There are a lot of unknowns about this, and it's kind of scary," he said.
He also said major cell phone carrier stores are also being hurt as a result of not being able to get the parts they need.
