Throughout Cape May and Atlantic counties, owners had to revise strategies for 2020, are hopeful about new year
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Sentinel
The importance of shopping small found a new meaning this year.
Small businesses are known for their creative abilities, and staying open during a pandemic is no easy feat. In addition to increasing cleaning procedures and complying with state-mandated restrictions, small businesses have found innovative ways to adapt to all the changes 2020 brought.
Sue Lotozo has been screen printing clothing by hand since 1990. Her West Cape May store, The Flying Fish Studio, is located at 130 Park Blvd. Lotozo had a website before the pandemic but never considered it an essential part of her business.
“When I realized that no one would be shopping in the store, I added everything I could to the website with inventory of sizes,” Lotozo said. “Up to this point, my website had only the items I knew we would have in stock.”
The Fish is known for its designs featuring beach scenes, local wildlife, vegetables, positive messages and homages to the annual festivals, that normally occur in West Cape May.
“Mid-April, I launched the ‘I Love Cape May’ collection, which allowed the person shopping to decide which of the seven area cultural non-profits they would like me to send $5 to,” Lotozo said.
This campaign increased Lotozo’s website traffic, with purchases allowing her to raise and donate over $4,000.
“Our community means so much,” Lotozo said. “I am proud that we managed to raise almost $8,000 for others in our area through four different fundraising methods.”
Stores received word doors would be allowed to open for in-person shopping in June; Lotozo decided to upgrade her point of sales system to tie into her website.
“This [change] was something I had resisted doing for years,” she said. “I thought it was overkill, but now I absolutely love it.”
Small businesses in Cape May place wholesale orders for clothing and accessories from The Fish. Lotozo said she is having a good season with retail being up, but wholesale printing decreased.
“I am most proud of my longtime staff who stepped up to the plate and did whatever was needed,” Lotozo said. “We all had to learn new ways of doing things after many years of doing sales in a rather old fashioned way. So, you can teach an old dog new tricks.”
Despite the unusual summer, businesses have remained open throughout the fall and winter – even extending beyond their usual seasonal closing times.
“I do believe that we are very fortunate and I am well aware that things have not gone well for so many businesses,” Lotozo said. “Cape May has always been popular, but more so this year. Speaking with many of our customers, I found that people felt safe here and needed to experience the nature that abounds in Cape May.”
In its second season, Antojos in North Cape May implemented a new method for customers to receive orders. Diners can pay via phone and pick up their order on the sidewalk outside the shop, 3704 Bayshore Road.
“With the great support of the community, we had a great opening and a better summer than I thought we were going to have,” owner Jehovanny Nuñez said.
Antojos in Spanish means “Mexican Cravings,” and Nuñez sells everything from churros to ice cream, crepes, smoothies, açaí bowls, chamoyadas, fresas con crema, paletas, tostilocos, and more.
“Being that this summer was only our second being open, we had worries about everything,” Nuñez said. “Overall, with all the circumstances, we had a better summer than the first. As a business, the thing you look forward to the most is doing better than the summer before.”
Antojos allowed only two people inside the store at a time and has hand sanitizer placed throughout. Nuñez said his customers responded well to all the changes. He hopes more people will come to Cape May next summer and he can continue getting to know his customers.
“I want to give the community a big thank you for coming in and keeping me working,” Nuñez said. “I have never felt community love so strong and it’s awesome to see that even through hard times, a community can stay so strong. From me and my family, we thank you all.”
Businesses that require physical contact with customers have had to make significant changes to provide a safe experience. At Tiffani Nails and Spa, 4 W. Roosevelt Blvd., experienced manicurists create all types of designs behind Plexiglas barriers. The longstanding Marmora business offers a friendly and clean service to customers.
“We are doing lots of different things this year,” owner Vivian Nguyen said. “We put dividers between the pedicure chairs, every station has sanitizer and alcohol spray and [with] every customer we use disposable, [single-use] items like nail files and buffers.”
Nguyen said each station is cleaned thoroughly between services, and the number of people inside is limited. Customers wait in their cars when they arrive for services.
“We are happy to be open but only had about 50 percent of customers return,” Nguyen said. “Hopefully next year, next summer it will be back to normal and customers will understand that we do the best to keep [the salon] clean and safe for everyone.”
Tiffani Nails and Spa offers coupons and giveaways on its Facebook page.
“We thank all of our customers, locals and especially those who have supported Tiffani for years,” Nguyen said.
Despite masks covering faces, employees at Bella U, 838 Asbury Ave., had a smile on as customers returned to shop in the Ocean City store.
“Our main goal when we reopened was to help make the customers feel safe and at ease,” owner Trish Giova said. “Our employees approached this with a positive attitude and understanding of differences in customer comfort levels.”
When Bella U reopened to shoppers, Giova had Plexiglas installed at the counters, contactless checkout, social distance signage and masks for customers who forgot theirs. The store is frequently disinfected, and garments were cleaned with LED wands.
“The summer was much better than I expected,” Giova said. “At the end of the day, we owe all the gratitude and appreciation to our customers and everyone that comes to Ocean City. People have really shown they want to support small businesses and help their shore communities.”
For 2021, Giova said she hopes businesses, families and people can recover from the pandemic.
“Bella U, Ocean City and all the shore communities coped the best we could,” Giova said. “I learned to be thankful every day we could be open and welcome customers.”
An emphasis on healthy living plays a pivotal role in Julia Lindsay’s Somers Point business, Goji. Located at 520 New Road, Goji had to make significant changes to its juice refilling process.
“At first, with the unknown of how the virus was spread, we discontinued our bottle-filling system,” Lindsay said. “We luckily found a great disinfecting system with minimal contact which enabled us to reinstate our bottle refilling system and continue our small part in reducing our landfill impact.”
As the reopening stages continued to evolve, Lindsay said Goji’s staff constantly readjusted to meet new standards.
“We’re thankful for all of our customers and our [all-star] staff in their support this year,” Lindsay said. “This season is one for the books and we’re glad to still be thriving and supporting our communities in their health journeys.”
Along with her husband Scott, Lindsay invested in a few acres of land to continue minimizing their environmental impact by growing and farming some of their produce.
“In the past months, we have cleared land for an orchard, put up a few greenhouses, brought up 20 chickens and are looking forward to the continued growth coming this spring,” she said.
The Lindsays plan to continue to provide healthy options at affordable price points to the communities and help with education on sustainable and health-conscious decisions. Goji will be opening an Ocean City location in spring 2021.
