Before March 2020, Sacramento enjoyed a 10-year golden age for small business.
Independent restaurants, shops and galleries opened throughout the city. The transformation was remarkable enough that in 2016 and 2018, we published “Inside Sacramento: The Most Interesting Places in America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital.”
The book featured more than 100 local businesses across eight neighborhoods. Today, much of it reads like history.
Many highlighted businesses are gone. Some closed during the pandemic. Others struggled through lockdowns and shut down later. Those that survived often emerged with different approaches to growth, spending and risk.
Small businesses fail for many reasons. But the pandemic was different. Government closure orders prevented many viable businesses from operating. Grants and other assistance helped some survive, including Inside Sacramento.
Six years later, the consequences are clear. Many of our long-term advertisers disappeared. Downtown and Midtown suffer as thousands of public employees work from home. Empty offices and storefronts contribute to homelessness and street conditions that make operating a business more difficult.
Less visible, but just as important, is the loss of confidence among small business owners.
Restaurants reopened with shorter hours, smaller menus and fewer staff. Some eliminated lunch or reduced days. After a burst of post-lockdown enthusiasm, many owners realized they could survive only with extreme caution.
A decade ago, Inside Sacramento might have had a dozen restaurant advertisers. Today, we have only a few. Owners tell us their margins are too thin.
The arts experienced a similar contraction. Organizations endured shutdowns, cancellations and financial loss. They returned with fewer events, performances or venues. Ten years ago, eight to 10 leading arts organizations advertised in our pages. Today, none do.
At the same time, social media transformed how businesses reach customers.
When I started Inside Sacramento 30 years ago, marketing was local. A restaurant in East Sac needed to reach people who lived nearby. A neighborhood newspaper was the perfect way.
Social media changed the equation. Now a restaurant can build a following based on food culture, chefs or online visibility rather than geography.
A new East Sac restaurant may focus on reaching followers around the region instead of 10,000 potential customers nearby.
Social media is easier and cheaper and offers real benefits. But something has been lost.
For small business owners, being part of a neighborhood meant more than conducting transactions there. They advertised locally, sponsored schools and events, supported nonprofits and arts, and recognized how strong local media connects neighborhoods.
Many of those entrepreneurs retired. A younger generation faces higher costs, tighter margins, staffing challenges, online competition and marketing systems controlled by tech giants. I don’t blame local businesses for responding to those realities. Inside Sacramento has responded, too.
But after watching the small business community for three decades, I can’t help but wonder what we’ve lost.
Small businesses give neighborhoods personality. They create gathering places, employ neighbors, support local institutions and turn anonymous streets into places we consider our own.
The pandemic didn’t destroy Sacramento’s entrepreneurial spirit. New businesses still open. Some are wonderful. But the ecosystem supporting them has changed.
A community loses something when businesses stop seeing themselves as participants in a neighborhood and become primarily individual enterprises pursuing customers.
Strong neighborhoods depend on mutual investment: residents support businesses, businesses support local institutions, institutions strengthen the neighborhood.
For decades, that cycle helped build Sacramento’s small business community.
Six years after the lockdowns, it’s time to rebuild. By choosing local businesses whenever we can, each of us helps restore the vibrant, distinctive small business community that makes Sacramento special.
Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
