They include the Apis Hotel and Restaurant, Bellissima’s Boutique, Berkshire Hathaway Epic Real Estate, Better Bookkeeping Services, Blue House Books, Cannavita, Down the Rabbit Hole, and The Downtown’R Saloon. Last year, some 20 new businesses opened downtown. We had initially predicted a much larger decrease in improvements but saw this as a positive indicator that business and building owners wanted to optimize this time to make improvements for future growth,” she said. “We did note capital improvement projects decreased by about 16%. “With as many layoffs that occurred, entrepreneurship became appealing to some, and our city has great affordability for new business owners,” Binanti said. Layoffs in the 2020 pandemic induced some people to become their own bosses. “From COVID, we had only a 3% business closure rate in the district primarily because so many development projects were slated for 2020 prior to the pandemic,” said Alexandria Binanti, executive director of Downtown Kenosha Inc. I think we’re a better Chamber,” he said. The pandemic “affected everybody in a negative way,” said Lou Molitor, president and chief executive officer of the Kenosha Area Chamber of Commerce. While there still is some fallout from the pandemic, observers see a light at the end of the tunnel as more people are vaccinated. It was difficult, but as spring 2021 approaches many believe the storm has been weathered. Some business owners estimate they may have lost 60% to 80% of their revenue. Small, family-run businesses may have been hit harder than others. The coronavirus pandemic affected businesses differently. Kenosha County’s residents and business community faced a pandemic, project and economic slowdowns and civil unrest and yet still there were examples of positive and significant developments.ĭavid Clark, an economics professor at Marquette University who also closely follows the real estate industry, said 2020 was like a roller coaster starting out strong, dipping and then rebounding again later in the year. The past year could be described as one of unforeseen challenges, change and resourcefulness.
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