By now, people are becoming used to seeing social media posts and articles about their favorite businesses closing for good. Thousands of beloved Bay Area enterprises from restaurants and boutiques to independent movie theaters and corner stores have shut down during the coronavirus pandemic. Some owners thought they could ride out shelter-in-place orders, but no longer see a viable future or couldn’t afford carrying costs. The end of a business often spells the end of a dream, a community, years of hard work, and livelihoods of owners and workers. We’ll hear the stories of Bay Area business owners and how this wave of closures could reshape the region’s economy.
