KYW Newsradio's Community Comeback series checks in on Philadelphia neighborhoods and livelihoods to find out how small businesses made it through the pandemic and how they are surviving, and even thriving, today.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Christian Javier says, throughout the coronavirus pandemic, his small business in the Germantown Avenue commercial corridor has thrived while others have fallen.
"I cannot complain. It was a good time for me," he said.
He credits two things to the success of Germantown Ave Appliances, 2630 Germantown Ave.: federal stimulus checks that allowed consumers to buy appliances, and his ability to make nimble changes to his business model to avoid being shut down during a public health crisis.
There was a short time when he had to closed up shop, he said, but by pivoting to delivery, he was back up and running soon afterward.
"I was doing delivery," he said. "People call me from home, and I deliver."
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Javier says the real devastation came to him and other business owners in the Germantown Avenue commercial corridor when people rioted and looted after the killing of George Floyd.
"That was a real bad time," Javier siad. "I saw my neighbor's store burned down."
During that time, he says, business took a back seat to safety.
"All the stores around here, the glass was broken. I used to sleep in my store, to protect the store," he said.
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While Javier says he has seen some neighbors go out of businesses during the pandemic, he has seen other signs of success and hope on the avenue.
"Next door they are opening another business. Germantown is growing up once again," he said.
Javier says more aid and centralized help from city, state and federal government would go a long way to restore Germantown Avenue to the bustling commercial center it once was.
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