Small businesses in Dallas are struggling to stay open while feeling the pinch

A hair salon had to increase the price. A dry cleaner can’t find the plastic bags it uses for clean and ironed clothes. A restaurant serves a few French fries with each order.

With 40-year high inflation, it’s difficult for small businesses to stay open and continue to provide jobs that support thousands of Dallas-area families.

These businesses are being pinched in a number of ways — more expensive supplies, higher utility bills, bigger wages and, in many cases, fewer customers due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

About 97% of all businesses in Dallas County are small businesses, with 50,000 in Dallas alone, according to the 2020 Census.

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Many have remained open through pandemic relief programs, such as the Paycheck Protection Program or Economic Injury Disaster Loans. The Small Business Administration has distributed $34 billion in 2020 and 2021 to Dallas-Fort Worth businesses.

But year-over-year inflation, which reached 9.1 percent in June, threatens the viability of small businesses.

Three businesses are co-located in a shopping center at the intersection of Abrams Road and Northwest Highway in northeast Dallas. up to date How to deal with recession.

‘Difficult Times’

“Since the pandemic, everything has been piling up and we’ve had a hard time keeping business afloat,” said Maria Garcia, owner of Lizzy’s Beauty Salon. “When the price of oil went up and (the price) of everything went up, things started to settle down.”

Garcia, 62, who opened her beauty salon 22 years ago, said she was receiving frequent job applications before the outbreak. But now it is very difficult to find an employee.

“Girls always come to ask for work, but (we’re) completely done. Now I can’t find anyone who wants to work. I’ve had ‘wanted workers’ sign up for months to come in for interviews, but they never come back,” Garcia said.

If three spaces are not booked in her salon, the income is going down. People still need a haircut, but they don’t want to wait on Friday and Saturday, the two busiest days, and leave when they see a long waiting list.

To make matters worse, hair styling products are very expensive.

So Garcia had no choice but to raise the price. The whole haircut went from $16 to $18. A color correction treatment now costs $70, up from $65 a few weeks ago.

During the outbreak, many workers stopped going to their offices or attending formal events, and they also stopped sending their clothes to the dry cleaners.

“Everything that people send to the dry cleaners is related to incidents and those are canceled,” said Syed F. Mehndi, 62, owner of Sterling Cleaners. “We reopened and everything was going well, then prices went up and it became difficult to find products at reasonable prices.”

Mehndi, known to customers as Frank, can buy a wire hanger box that he could have bought for $42 last year, but today costs $65.

“We are the only survivors.”

Next to Janitors is Latin Deli, a sandwich, smoothie and dessert restaurant that chef-owner Fernando Barrera opened in 2011.

Restaurants are among the businesses most affected by inflation. The Department of Labor Statistics’ June report showed that the food price index rose 1.8% from May, with the largest increases in butter, sugar, flour, grains, bread products and dairy products.

On top of that, it’s becoming harder for businesses that traditionally rely on referrals to hire employees, and more people have stopped eating out.

“Restaurant is the worst business to own right now; we’re just surviving. There’s no profit. It’s like there’s a conspiracy to put us out of business,” Barrera said.

Barrera says he’s put up with price increases because customers always notice. Instead, he invented ways to save money.

“We put some fries with the sandwiches (and) the containers we use for dressing are smaller now and so on; we have to be creative,” Barrera said.

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Inflation forced Barrera to downsize. The restaurant had three locations, one in Addison, another in Plano, and the main one in northeast Dallas. He closed one and sold the other.

It’s playing in the first place with climate inflation. Three months ago, he raised the wages of his employees by 20%. Even so, it is struggling to retain workers.

This restaurant has a few outdoor tables. Menu items are written in large white letters on the floor-to-ceiling glass windows: cupcakes, crepes, omelets and fresh lemonade. The sign below says, “We are hiring.”