A steady stream of customers has returned to Joe Squared's North Avenue location for his made-from-scratch pizzas and live music.
But at the company's second location at Power Plant Live, business remains slow since the rioting and unrest last month in Baltimore, said owner Joe Edwardsen. Normally, business picks up with the warm weather and tourists coming into downtown, he said.
On Friday, he was one of several dozen business owners who attended a business recovery workshop hosted by Gov. Larry Hogan's office at the campus of Morgan State University. The event was held to provide information to local businesses affected by the rioting following the death of Freddie Gray.
Officials from the Small Business Administration, the Baltimore Development Corporation, the Maryland Insurance Commission, and other agencies, offered information about loans up to $2 million for physical damage, rental expenses and other costs incurred.
Edwardsen said he was trying to find a way to offset costs from losses, but he said a loan is not really ideal because he said the issue is lack of funds, and taking out a loan would only cost more money.
At the North Avenue restaurant, he said business has returned, but said he was hurt by the curfew, which he believes was held too long. The last week of April, when the curfew was imposed, is traditionally one of the most profitable weeks of the year, he said, because it's traditionally the beginning of the nice weather and people want to get out of the house.
"It's a great week for business. The top five. The curfew lasting as long as it did was a killer," he said.
Edwardsen said he plans to apply for a $30,000 loan to cover some of the losses. He said the Power Plant location is down about $27,000 and the North Ave. location is down about $36,000, though business there has returned to normal.
"The Baltimore City people are definitely going out," he said, helping that location.
But the Power Plant Live! location, where has a staff of about 20, is mostly fueled by tourists heading to conventions, or people coming from the county on the weekends, which has not picked up.
Compounding the situation, he said, is that fact that summer months are the biggest time for many seasonal business, providing a cushion for slower times.
"Down at the harbor, you've got to build up a reserve," he said, adding that operating expenses are about three times higher.
Edwardsen said he hasn't considered layoffs, but has already had to substantially cut hours, forcing his employees to look for second jobs, which are already scarce, he said.
Another business owner, who declined to give his name, said he has clothing shops at Mondawmin Mall and in Prince George's County, and lost about $200,000 after his Mondawmin store was looted and damaged. While the store is insured, he said none of the funds have come through. Business was also further hurt, he said, because the mall remained closed for 10 days, leaving him 10 days without revenue.
Jean Choe, who runs the Gallery Grill, across from the Walters Art Museum, said the Mount Vernon sandwich shop's windows were broken during the rioting. While insurance covered the cost of the glass, she said the job has been more expensive because of additional damage to the wood frames around the windows and the restaurants facade.
"That is the reason I am here, I want to see what my options are," she said, before heading into the auditorium to hear form different speakers.
Choe said she had to close while the windows were boarded up by plywood. "It was all dark," she said.
During a presentation by Cheivelle Hill, with Department of Housing & Community Development, one man stood up and asked about loans after his pawn shop was "burned to the ground."
State officials said typically loans are not offered to certain businesses like liquor stores, but the agency was taking applications given the circumstances of the riots.
The owner of the Best Care Pharmacy located at1133 Pennsylvania Ave. asked about the time frame for loan applications to move forward, saying he needed to reopen the business because customers need to be able to get prescriptions.
"I can't wait so long," he said.
Hill said the agency is trying to expedite the loan process for businesses damaged in the rioting by stripping away some of the standard regulations, but assured Best Care's owner they had received the application and were working on it.
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