By Caitlyn Scott & Madison Stokes | Staff Writers

BRIGHTON HEIGHTS — With the COVID-19 pandemic presenting local residents and businesses with unexpected challenges, many had to quickly develop new plans of action, figuring out how to maintain both personal interaction and business. This was particularly true along California Avenue in Brighton Heights.

Despite efforts to minimize the virus spreading, the first case in the United States was detected on Jan. 20, 2020, in Washington State, leading to the World Health Organization (WHO) decision to declare COVID-19 a pandemic less than two months later on March 11.

Three days later, Allegheny County would report the first positive COVID-19 infection, leading then-Governor Tom Wolf to announce the closure of all nonessential businesses five days later, causing local shops and restaurants to reevaluate new ways of marketing to the community.

John Bratton, owner of California Cycle Path located on California Avenue, said the closure of nonessential businesses due to coronavirus resulted in the end of in-person interactions. This led to utilizing online resources in order to maintain community engagement.

“Our fitness community continued to support us through virtual classes and via social media,” Bratton said. About 80% of their members are committed to a Cycle Path membership, which is a monthly autopay system. “We were fortunate that all our members continued the monthly payments and took virtual classes.”

Along with California Cycle Path, many businesses along California Avenue have continued to question and reflect how the effects of the pandemic impacted and changed personal interactions and business between owners and residents within the community.

Tom Friday, owner of Tom Friday’s Market, which has become known in the Northside as both a butcher shop and a grocery store combined in one complex, said that although the pandemic did not seriously hurt his business, new guidelines and procedures had to be implemented to maintain customer and employee safety.

“We didn’t really experience serious hardships,” Friday said. “We limited the number of customers in the store at one time and enforced the ‘6-feet apart’ rule. We also installed plexiglass shields at counters and ensured that both customers and workers were wearing masks. For precautionary measures, we shut down every day for extensive cleaning.”

Tom Friday’s Market, categorized as an essential business, remained open through the progression of the pandemic without limitations on production. They relied on advertising as a way to

Tom Friday, owner of Tom Friday’s Market, weighs a bag of meat. The combined butcher shop/grocery store stayed open during the pandemic as an essential business, but had to implement many safety measures. Photo by Madison Stokes

maintain business at a pre-pandemic level.

Friday said that advertising on social media to maintain contact with customers, along with connecting to radio and newspaper outlets such as The Northside Chronicle, aided in maintaining community connection and production of products that started to become scarce within the area.

During the pandemic, the market’s production of goods, along with customer interaction, increased by 30% over pre-pandemic levels. With operations returning to normal, production and customer interactivity declined slightly but it’s still 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Unlike Tom Friday’s Market, California Coffee Bar was forced to close for two months, with pickup-only service offered two weeks after reopening, according to Karis Bowman, the store’s owner.

“When we reopened, it was tough at first as business was incredibly slow,” Bowman said. “ A lot of our regulars weren’t aware that we had reopened. We were down to one barista manning the whole operation during the week and just two on weekends. For the first few weeks back we were pickup only, so it was very strange to work in a big empty coffee shop by yourself.”

Despite this, Bowman said that the community aided in the coffee bar’s return to normal operations, providing aid in advertising operations during COVID-19 limitations and restrictions.

“Everyone was super great and supportive,” Bowman said. “Customers were willing to wear masks, for the most part [and] we actually came back from the pandemic with stronger sales than we had before.”

As a result of the pandemic, Penn State Social Science and Research Institute concluded that more than 3 million jobs and $25 billion in sales were lost within the restaurant industry, and that occurred within the first 22 days of the virus’s impact.

The research institute also found that 22% of restaurant operations were completely closed two months later, with “34% of on-site operators such as schools, malls, stadiums and businesses” similar to California Cycle Path and California Coffee Bar being completely shut down for in-person operation.

Although this was the case, there were ways in which governmental aid provided merchants with support to maintain business in communities like Brighton Heights.

The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) created the COVID-19 Relief Statewide Small Business Assistance program, which provided grants and debt relief from $5,000 up to $50,000 to small businesses that experienced economic hardship.

In total, the DCED has allocated $225 million for COVID-19 relief to support small businesses struggling during the pandemic.

Despite the pandemic presenting Northside businesses with challenges, support from the community and continued advertising made operations easier, further connecting customers to owners and workers.

“The community had continued to support us [during the pandemic period] by showing us love and support via social media and by attending our virtual classes,” Bratton said. “Some members even donated to our local charities that we support through our new membership trial.”

Evonne Hunter, a Northside resident, had observed the closure and establishment of protocols along California Avenue, and noted that those businesses that provide food and other essentials had a difficult time of it.

“When everybody shut down and reopened, you saw so many struggling from the pandemic,” Hunter said. “Everybody around here depends on this location for haircuts and businesses like Tom Friday’s for meat. You can see that things are now really picking back up.”