A new COVID-19 variant has spread to several countries across the globe – including North America. Northern California businesses are now bracing for the impact of when it could reach the state.U.S. health experts say it is a matter of time before the omicron variant of COVID-19 surfaces in the United States. So far, cases of the variant have not been detected in the U.S. But health leaders and businesses are already making adjustments ahead of a possible winter surge.It has only been a few days since the omicron variant was announced, but some midtown Sacramento businesses are worried it will affect their bottom dollar. So now, they are making changes to address worries customers have.Susan Rabinovitz, CEO of the Midtown Sacramento jewelry store Little Relics, tinkered with some trinkets in her store Tuesday night. While her focus was on the products, coronavirus concerns were also top of mind. Despite omicron not yet detected in California, Rabinovitz is noticing a sales slump."This is supposed to be our busiest time of the year and we're already seeing it start to slow down,” Rabinovitz said.Rabinovitz said more customers want to come outside of regular business hours to avoid crowds. It is an option she has offered during the COVID era. But 10 before-hours appointments have been set for this week alone – the most since the pandemic started. So now, Rabinovitz is changing her workflow to stay open."I have to be more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed much earlier in my day because I am the one who comes in and meets and greets people before hours,” Rabinovitz said.Other midtown businesses like Kulture, an art import store, said while it has not made any changes yet, they are prepared to pivot if they need to. Kulture co-Owner David Garcia said social distancing is already in place, but the omicron variant could lead to more capacity limits for them."We're not a store that's jam-packed at all times. We get little rushes here and there. But maybe limit it to maybe six to eight people,” Garcia said. “We don't have a big store here. So, just limit the amount of people that come in."As businesses work through any adjustments they need to make, medical experts are still trying to learn more about the omicron variant."We've got more questions than answers right now,” said Dr. Dean Blumberg, pediatric infectious diseases expert at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.Blumberg said when it comes to the omicron variant, it is unclear how transmissible it is, how severe the diseases it causes is and how much the current COVID-19 vaccines will protect against it. But he noted some research is pointing to the omicron variant being worse than the delta variant."That's very concerning that it appears to be outpacing the delta variant. It appears to be more transmissible than the Delta variant, but we just don't have hard numbers,” Blumberg said. "It could be a setback, similar to how the delta variant was a setback for us."That is why businesses such as Kulture and Little Relics are not taking any chances."We need to make sure that we are prepared for it,” Rabinovitz said.Customers are also encouraged to plan ahead now for any special orders, in case capacity limits and store hours change. Little Relics said it has already received some jewelry orders placed for next year’s Valentine’s Day holiday.