Survey: Over half of Brooklyn small businesses say 2021 was difficult
Restaurants, bars enthusiastic over alcohol-to-go
As New York City approaches the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdown that forced the temporary closure of non-essential businesses, drove hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers out of work, and caused universal disruption to nearly every sector of the economy, more than half of small businesses in Brooklyn are still struggling due to ongoing financial impacts, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
Although the city took many steps toward returning to normalcy in 2021, only 41 percent of businesses reported an increase in year-over-year revenues from 2020 to 2021, and 72 percent of businesses continued to experience sales lower than 2019 levels. Some 68 percent reported losses of customers compared to 2019, and 41 percent still had slimmer employee headcounts.
In a comprehensive survey detailing the myriad issues still affecting small businesses and prolonging the city’s unsteady economic recovery, the owners of 185 retailers, restaurants and bars, gyms, real estate and construction firms, manufacturers, and professional services representing neighborhoods across Brooklyn provided key insights into the difficulties that kept them from moving forward in 2021. Forty-seven percent of the businesses profiled are minority-, women- or immigrant-owned.