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.
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In March of 2020, Anthony Anastasio had two shops, each devoted to some of life's greatest pleasures: chocolate and coffee. But soon, this fourth-generation merchant in the Italian Market neighborhood was reduced to just one business.
His chocolate shop was among countless small businesses in Philadelphia that had to close their doors. Many did not re-open.
"It was extremely unnerving," he admitted.
But Anastasio, owner of what was Anthony's Italian Coffee House at 903 South 9th Street, had a product advantage that many businesses didn't, one that kept him not only alive, but thriving.
That nine-letter word so many people love, "essential."
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“The business was allowed to stay opened for the coffee shop. The chocolate shop was not deemed essential," said Anastasio. "We were, however, not allowed to have people come into the building."
Anastasio took his chocolate treats to the coffee house and operated them both under one roof. The re-imagined coffee house was an essential business not only in the legal and literal sense, but possibly for his shop's survival.
“We did that exclusively waiting on customers at the front door and getting the stuff and bringing it to them," Anastasio said.
"We changed our hours during the shutdown. We got here two hours early just to prep, to clean and to sanitize everything, and then at the end of the night we stayed an hour later and then just cleaned and sanitized, the whole process over and over.”
They also went digital, using apps to set up pick-up orders, working with food delivery services and creating their website, and saw a new kind of business help their revenue climb back.
“We had launched a subscription service of our coffees," Anastasio added. "That really took off just before Easter of 2020.”
That proved the loyal following Anthony's had built up would pay off. So much so, that Anastasio never let go of any employees during the worst of the pandemic in 2020.
”The folks in our chocolate shop, they were given the opportunity to come help us out here, being that we were a small store," he said.
"We had to do the social distancing. We had one person in the kitchen. We had one person behind the counter. We had one person on the other counter, and that was it. There was three of us actually running the show, but we didn’t lay anyone off. We kept everybody. We reduced hours and we gave everybody the opportunity to get as many hours as we could fit in there."
Anastasio kept his business, renamed Anthony's Italian Coffee & Chocolate Shop, open seven days a week.
Then, he saw a new opportunity right next door.
When an adjacent doughnut shop became available, Anastasio kept the reconfigured coffee and candy store the way it was, and used the new space for indoor tables and chairs once patrons were allowed inside.
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”We are not looking to change that model," said Anastasio. "We are keeping it the way it is. We are just expanding to the indoor dining as a separate space where we can keep the tables and chairs six feet apart.”
However, he said he had always allowed outdoor seating, knowing his fans would appreciate the comfort of a safer atmosphere outside, and he said he would be planning more al fresco seats.
"I think people have to become a little bit more comfortable about being around other people and with being in crowds," he said.
"I know the city has been so safe with their mandates, which is a good thing, but we are really just trying to take it slow."
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Sales have not been slow recently, as business has been good for Anastasio and a lot of the other merchants here this year, while locals and tourists make their way to the market.
He was hopeful those tourists come for an Italian Market festival that could take place this fall. However, festival organizers canceled the event Wednesday after new COVID-19 mandates from the city.
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“The fourth quarter is important to many of the businesses down here. So we were hoping that this was going to be a kick starter for the fourth quarter," said Anastasio.
"It’s disappointing with the new mandates, especially with the walking and the eating, that’s not allowed for us to be able to do that. We are a food destination here so, if you are not walking and eating, you aren’t experiencing what we have here on 9th Street."
Perhaps some small business owners are taking a bit more of a wait-and-see approach, even as they remain hopeful after returning their operations to closer-to-normal.
“There is definitely a long way to go because there are still a lot of unknowns,” said Pat O'Malley, the owner of Fitz and Starts, a bakery, bar and restaurant at 743 South 4th Street on Fabric Row.
O'Malley said they make every bread and pastry by scratch, but as the pandemic worsened while 2020 was ending and 2021 was beginning, he had to cut down both the number of team members in the bakery and the hours in which patrons could purchase it.
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"We had paired down to only five or six employees in January. Winter was obviously super tough," he admitted.
"I wasn’t comfortable with seating indoors. So we basically just became breakfast and lunch, and to-go. It’s taking the better part of the year so far to get back to what is to be, in the daytime ... with strong focus on bakery, full bar, a coffee/espresso program."
But O'Malley's restaurant has bounced back, at least partially because of a business community that supports one another, and a neighborhood of stores conducive to attracting customers.
O’Malley said now that people have become more comfortable about going out again, there is more foot traffic, and that means more businesses on the corridor.
“Business has been really good," O'Malley expressed.
"We felt a bit limited being only able to be open for lunch, but we are looking forward to [being open for] dinner and be able to fully express what we are trying to do here. I feel lucky that we are in a neighborhood that has these sort of established deep-rooted families and stuff, and in general I think the community has been tremendously supportive.”
Still, O'Malley is wary of how he has to operate while the comeback continues.
“Last year definitely taught me to be cautious,” he said.
“I’m forced to be cautious and optimistic, but also realistic, in terms of not wanting to overextend myself or my staff, whether it’s financially or just from a safety perspective. So there’s still some pennies to drop, but I think that we are definitely on the right track.”
Any sort of track would have been welcome for Sermania Jewelry to take during the most rocky parts of the last year and a half.
"It was scary," said Janice Sermania, sitting at the front counter.
She spoke as her husband Joe was polishing a pendant, the kind of activity Sermania Jewelry, at 1719 East Passyunk Avenue, couldn't even engage in for part of the pandemic.
"We did a lot of phone calls to all of our creditors, vendors, and just pleaded and said, 'We are closed down. We’re going to need some more time,'" Janice said.
"I would say pretty much everybody was on board."
But matters were made worse at the time Sermania Jewerly was set to re-open from mandatory shutdown orders.
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They both got COVID-19, and they had to close their doors again for an entire month.
The Sermanias said customers were incredibly understanding. They expressed their gratitude to customers with a sign on the front door of their business.
"It means a lot to us. It really does."
They'll be able to keep customers coming in, and will follow the city's new indoor business masking mandate, effective Thursday.
“Here at Sermania Jewelry we will be following the recent city mandate for mask wearing,” said Janice. “Frankly, mostly all of our customers have been entering the store wearing masks with the ongoing variant news.”
Customers weren't the only presence that helped business owners realize they were not alone in fighting for survival, and a chance to thrive again.
Business associations like the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District became key advocates and knowledge bases to help their members through the pandemic.
“It’s been following the ball through the maze the whole time and trying to be keeping up on what we need to be doing and what’s applicable,” said Adam Leiter, the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District executive director.
He explained that his office worked as an information hub for businesses attempting to understand the myriad of COVID-19 policies between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, and even how their policies might differ than those in New Jersey or Delaware.
“We had good connections with the city, through the Commerce Department, and they have been an incredible resource through all of this,” said Leiter.
“We also work through a larger coalition of all of the businesses throughout the city, to work together to be advocates for getting through together, dealing with issues, whether it be regulations around the 'streateries' [outdoor street dining], or getting clarifications on updates that need to be made. Things like the H-VAC systems and winterization, and even down to regular city issues like trash cleanup.“
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But as the delta variant raises both total COVID-19 cases and positive test percentages, companies are realistic about the changes that have come like the new indoor masking mandate in Philadelphia this week.
“We have decided that starting tomorrow, August 12, we will require face masks to all customers and employees to enter the establishment regardless of vaccinations so we can do our part to keep our employees, guests, and community safe,” said a representative from LaScala’s Birra.
“We still are technically in a pandemic, and we are still working with the businesses to continue to make it through," said Leiter.
"Our organization at this point is thankfully looking at the opportunity to have larger-scale events and gatherings again, but we still want to do it in a way that it safe and hitting comfort levels for different people.”
Those events, and all those efforts small businesses and their advocates are taking part in, are meant to help these businesses continue to survive the unknowns of the ongoing pandemic.
"When you continue to support these small businesses, [you may see] a place that looks busy right now. And you’re like, 'Oh, yeah they are doing great,' [but] you have to keep in mind the extreme losses that they took, especially in the beginning of the pandemic," Leiter explained.
"People had to take out additional loans. People had to do a lot of things to just keep surviving. So they are still digging out from some of those holes. It’s just something to keep in mind that the support of the small businesses is something that really resonates with them on a personal level, and you are a hero to them when you support a local small business.“
Small businesses have been the underdogs in COVID-19 economic fight. Something South Philadelphia understands.
After all, the "Rocky" series made South Philadelphia world famous.
“Rocky ran through here," said Anastasio about the triumphant movie underdog who used the Philly streets as his training ground.
And channeling Rocky, these South Philly businesses have found a way to triumph despite the pandemic.