Amazon Prime Day boosts small business shopping, too

Oct 13, 2020
There are small- and medium-sized businesses who use Amazon's platform and logistics to reach wider audiences.
More than half the products sold on Amazon come from smaller companies.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A Los Angeles bookstore owner on reinventing her small business during the pandemic

Oct 12, 2020
Celene Navarrete had to close her shop doors in March and is now growing her online store and attending virtual book fairs.
Celene Navarrete, left, and Chiara Arroyo, owners of LA Librería in Los Angeles.
Sergio López Valero/Courtesy of Celene Navarrete

Four generations of family work together on restaurant

Sep 16, 2020
Tess Thomas, owner of Emma's BBQ in Seattle, Washington, uses her mother's recipes at her restaurant.
An employee wipes down a table at a BBQ restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

How 3 small businesses are surviving the pandemic

Aug 27, 2020
"Everything is interconnected," said Patty Delgado, CEO of Hija de tu Madre. "I think no business or no industry is totally immune to this."
Patty Delgado, CEO of Hija de tu Madre, at the e-commerce company's warehouse in downtown Los Angeles.
(Courtesy of Delgado)

“There’s not really any work left to do”

Aug 20, 2020
A bartender’s diary before the bar he works in closes permanently.
Bartender Neil Cairns at work in Portland's Game Knight Lounge. Pandemic conditions have reduced Game Knight's customer traffic to a trickle.
(Thomas Patterson for Marketplace)

She turned a calming hobby into a business during quarantine

Aug 18, 2020
Tally Dilbert wanted to get her mind off the difficulty of being home all day. That’s when she rediscovered painting.
Paintings by Tally Dilbert.
Courtesy Tally Dilbert

One reason why Black-owned businesses have fared worse in the pandemic: weaker banking relationships

Aug 4, 2020
That leaves them restricted access to capital, according to a study by the New York Fed.
A beauty product booth at a Black-owned business expo in Florida. The number of Black business owners in the U.S. fell more than 40% between February and April, according to a New York Fed study.
Octavio Jones/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

CEOs call on Washington to help small businesses

Aug 4, 2020
Over 100 current and former corporate leaders sign a letter urging Congress to provide more relief to a huge sector that includes many of their suppliers and customers.
A shuttered small business in Brooklyn. Large corporations want small businesses to be kept afloat because the two sectors are interdependent.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Nail salon industry faces COVID-19 challenges as economies reopen

Jul 29, 2020
The owners, who employ many Asian immigrant workers, face mounting costs and fewer customers as they try to keep their doors open.
Employees at Mod Nail Lounge in Dallas use face masks, gloves and table shields when working with customers.
Courtesy Mod Nail Lounge

Expanded unemployment benefits help small businesses, too

Jul 27, 2020
They have been a lifeline for laid-off workers. They also boost demand and enable businesses to focus on staying afloat.
A hostess at a Miami restaurant waits for customers behind a partition. The expanded unemployment benefits helped small businesses make decisions early in the pandemic.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images