Tourism-reliant Capitola businesses struggle during COVID-19 pandemic

CAPITOLA, Calif. (KION) Capitola Village is usually flourishing with tourists as the summer approaches.

“We have people coming from out of country and out of state. They come just for Capitola. They want to be able to do the full experience: beach, food, [and] shopping,” Super Silver manager Avalon Gonzalez said.

Several shops in the Capitola Village have re-opened for curbside pickup, but in accordance with the county guidelines there is still no walk-in shopping. Super Silver, a jewelry shop in the village, said they have lost about 90% of their business since the shelter-in-place began. The shop is working on expanding online, but say it's just not the same.

“Our store's more about going in and being able to look at things and try things on, but we can’t do that by just having a through the door conversation,” Gonzalez said.

The city has also developed a new business recovery program to assist Capitola small businesses with strategies to keep their cash flow coming in.

“How long can they last the way they are, and how can they augment that? Maybe it's changing business practices, maybe they need to have more of an online presence or expand their online presence,” Capitola Business Recovery liaison Richard Hill said.

The program is making sure businesses know what kind of loans or grants are available to them, and a chance to express their needs to the city.

“How the businesses can interact along side the city is to the benefit of both the city and the business,” Hill said.

Super Silver has another location at the Capitola Mall, which is still closed completely. The shop had to furlough some staff and are trying everything possible to stay open.

“It would be really sad for us to have to close after 25 years,” Gonzalez said.

The shop manager said they have trained their staff for new safety protocol, so as soon as the county gives the "OK" to allow walk-in shopping they'll be ready to open up.