Rebuilding America: Shore stores make sure 'the new normal becomes the normal quickly'

May 28--Chris Trotta, owner of The Vintage Wave, a shop in Asbury Park, knows the recovery of his business from the coronavirus shutdown won't be simple, but he's staying positive.

"All entrepreneurs know business isn't easy, so we need to make it happen," Trotta said. "I've been through flood and fires and this pandemic is just another hurdle."

Gov. Phil Murphy closed all nonessential businesses on March 21, turning the lights off on many small retailers that line main streets of the Jersey Shore's downtowns. The closures shuttered businesses such as clothing and book stores and jewelry and gift shops.

Other retailers, including grocers, liquor stores, hardware stores, office supply stores, big box stores that sell food, and even toy stores, which sell products to children under age 5, were deemed essential and allowed to keep selling.

It wasn't until mid May when Murphy began to loosen restrictions, allowing nonessential retail businesses to offer telephone or internet sales with curbside pickup.

So what will happen when New Jersey allows retail to completely reopen? Business can likely expect to have to make some changes to the way they operate and interact with customers.

The rules have yet to be written, but what has happened in supermarkets and food stores is a sign of what may come.

Jennifer Schanker, owner of Learning Express in Shrewsbury, has been open for delivery and curbside pick-up since March. She expects more social distancing inside her shop, and may need Plexiglas shielding at the cash register, and provide hand sanitizer too.

She may have to limit the number of customer inside her shop at one time.

"By nature, retail is about being personable and developing relationships with customers and it should be interesting to see how that is going to play into the new way of doing things," Schanker said. "It's not going to be business as usual."

She'll keep her online sales presence, developed by the company's franchisor at the start of the pandemic, and curbside pickup and delivery too. "It's about the convenience for everybody."

Businesses are going to have to be nimble.

"We are going to have to make sure the new normal becomes the normal quickly and businesses are going to have to learn how if they are going to be able to survive under new restrictions," said Sylvia Sylvia, executive director of the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce.

When their dining rooms were closed, restaurants had to pivot to boost their takeout offerings and sign up with delivery services like Door Dash and Uber Eats.

"What happens one day is completely different perhaps the next day, or the next week," Sylvia said. "In Asbury Park, they are innovative and nimble anyway. This has been opportunity to really exercise their nimbleness."

Red Bank is preparing. "We are just pivoting and changing direction as needed," said Laura Kirkpatrick, executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter, the downtown business association.

"Our businesses have fully embraced the use of masks and hand sanitizers and they are willing to do whatever they need to do to get their businesses open to get people coming back into town and enjoying life again."

It doesn't mean there won't some pain. Many of the business at the Jersey Shore will not have had sales for months, said John S. Buzza, a marketing management professor at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. Some may not survive.

"What you lose today, you can't make up tomorrow," Buzza said.

And fewer people allowed inside a store at once will cut into thin profit margins, he said. It's also unclear how many people will return and visit stores once they're open again.

"How many shoppers are really going to be out there?" Buzza said. "What's the confidence level of the customer today to go into a shop knowing full well that someone else was in there?"

But businesses are finding new ways to sell their products. "You want to meet me curbside? Fine, I'll sell to you that way," Buzza said.

He's optimistic for the country and the future.

"If you look at pandemics from years and years ago, the turn of the century, and you look at stock market crashes that last for years and years, we have always come back," Buzza said. "How we come back is going to be different. No one really knows what the new way is."

Shopping: What to expect

* A gradual easing of restrictions.

* Social distancing and more social distancing.

* Masks, sanitizers, protective barriers.

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for more than 20 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There and Press on Your Side columns and can be reached at [email protected]. Join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.

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