Businesses in Beaumont Village have had a tough time navigating COVID, but many endured and remain open, as was recently confirmed by Beaumont Business Association President, Wesley Callaway.
“I would say we fared well and saw many new businesses come into the street that are doing well,” he said and added, “the total number of businesses still on the street now says a lot about their perseverance and business acumen.”
Callaway said that on the flip side, most businesses took significant losses over the last two years, including in income and staffing, and some businesses did not make it. He also noted a bright side to this business tale of woe.
“Everyone adapted as best they could, however” said Callaway, “and the association did its best to support them through it.”
Weathering the Storm
Some Beaumont Village establishments did well during the pandemic and continue to do so, particularly restaurants with take-out food options.
One such business, Red Sauce Pizza, is among them. Owner Shardell Dues is proud of how her team persevered despite the various challenges.
“The crew learned how to balance their mental and physical health to take care of one another,” Dues said. “We do a really good job at that here. I’m really proud of that because I’ve never had that in a job before.”
Dues acknowledged her business faces other challenges now.
“We’ve had to learn to adapt to the rising costs of goods and low inventory on certain items.”
Even some newer businesses enjoyed reasonable success. Tomorrow’s Verse Taproom is one of those. It opened in April 2020 to offer beer, food, live music, trivia, happy hour, vinyl record days, and live-stream concerts.
“I would say we are on a steady incline month over month,” said owner and founder TJ Fuller. “We still don’t really have any sense of what ‘normal’ is in terms of numbers and sales so it’s really difficult to see what the potential is for this business and this spot.”
Although there remains an element of uncertainty to the long-term success of his business, Fuller is optimistic.
“We’ve learned that we can ‘pivot’ to meet whatever challenges come our way.”
Landlord Sees Positives
One landlord we spoke with shares Fuller’s optimism. The owner of the Dutch Village building, Darren Stowell, feels fortunate about the tenants now in his properties.
“When you buy a building before a pandemic hits, you don’t know how things will shake out,” Stowell said. “One of the things I’ve learned that’s really amazing over the last few years is how the community has a connection to this building,” he said. “I get unsolicited emails with suggestions and positive comments about tenants.”
The outlook for Beaumont Village businesses appears bright; outdoor-friendly weather lies ahead, allowing many local businesses to draw neighbors and visitors to their doors.
Resident of Beaumont-Wilshire since 2020, Carlos Montalvo lives on 43rd Avenue with his partner Jaclyn, son Carlos Ollie-Boyd, Duck Tolling retriever dog Jude, and orange tabby cat Bochy. When he’s not working at a large health system as a patient experience manager, he enjoys writing, the outdoors, gardening, music, and sports.