Small businesses still feel post-pandemic squeeze ahead of holiday shopping
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Thanksgiving week kicks off the start of the very busy holiday shopping season with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
But while demand is high despite inflation, some small businesses are still dealing with pandemic-related issues.
In the Bishop Arts District in Dallas, it has become a hot spot for restaurants and snagging that unique gift.
But the need for workers lingers into the busiest time of year for these shops.
"We haven't been able to fully rebound from covid, in fact we have one store that was an art gallery just across the street and we recently had to close it, not because the business was bad, but simply for 6-weeks we didn't have a human being that could open that store" said Cody Ellison who is the co-owner of three Bishop Arts businesses with business partner Ken Valencia.
Currently they are looking for two full-time employees to be completely staffed.
"We like to have about 14 employees so if you are two or three down and mean that's 10-15%," added Ellison.
However, despite that, Ellison tells CBS 11 News 2022 has been their best year yet.
Down the street at AJ Vagabonds while they too are looking for some help, their main worry was inventory and figuring a way to keep costs down.
"Obviously we're dealing with inflation as well so we're figuring out ways to make sure when people see some kind of sticker shock on things that were quite a bit less before. But it feels like things are starting to catch up," added Jason Roberts, owner of AJ Vagabonds.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas' unemployment rate sits around 4%.