Two New Jersey Small Businesses Continue to Thrive Despite COVID-19

Garlic & Oil and Ava & Jack have managed to stay in business during the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened their doors a few weeks ago.

Garlic & Oil and Ava & Jack are two small businesses located in Sparta, New Jersey. Both stores were closed for about three months due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Photo by Andrew Isaacson.

Just like the rest of the world, residents of Sparta, New Jersey, went into quarantine for about three months, and all non-essential businesses were required to close.

For a long time, the streets were empty and there were almost no cars on the road, except for essential travel.

Gov. Phil Murphy slowly lifted COVID-19 stay-at-home orders throughout the state in the beginning of June and has allowed businesses to reopen at low capacity. Sparta has been more vibrant in the last few weeks and there are more people walking around town while maintaining social distancing and wearing a face mask.

This worldwide pandemic has impacted everyone to some extent, but it has forced small-business owners to make especially tough decisions on how to manage their stores.

Hand sanitizer stations and face masks have become more common during this pandemic. When you enter Garlic & Oil, there is a sanitation station and face masks on a small table next to the front door. Photo by Andrew Isaacson

Even though Garlic & Oil is considered an essential business, owner Kathryn Kaplan thought it was in the best interest of her employees, customers and herself to close the store for three months and operate from home.

“The gourmet food and gift store could have remained open,” Kaplan said. “We were allowed to because we sell a lot of food, so we are considered essential. But I chose not to be because in the middle of the epidemic, I was concerned of course for my safety, but also for the safety of customers and employees.”

Garlic & Oil has been operating for over 20 years. Kaplan said that she had to start her business from scratch and make up all the rules on her own.

Kaplan opened up Ava & Jack, a children’s boutique, about three years ago, and it was also closed until a few weeks ago.

Ava & Jack is a children’s boutique that opened about three years ago in Sparta, NJ. They sell children’s clothes, books, toys and much more. Photo by Andrew Isaacson.

She said that closing down both stores caused a huge loss in revenue because even though she paid for the inventory, no one was buying the products. They had to negotiate on different terms with the vendors and landlords to pay their bills and rent, Kaplan said. She had to spend $1,000 to equip the stores with safety measures, and that was an issue because there wasn’t any money coming in from anywhere else.

Kaplan said that she received help from a small business association loan which kept herself and her businesses afloat during this time.

Richard Gordon looks through cards at Garlic & Oil while wearing a face mask. Since the store reopened in mid-May, they have required all customers to wear a face covering and socially distance from each other. Photo by Andrew Isaacson.

All of her employees went on unemployment when the stores closed, but luckily all of them are back and making the same salary as they did previously, Kaplan said.

Garlic & Oil employee Lori Kunzman works behind plexiglass that was installed when the store reopened in mid-May. All of the workers went on unemployment while the stores were closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Photo by Andrew Isaacson.

Since Ava & Jack has an online shopping option, they were able to make some money when they closed.

Debbie Argula, manager of Ava & Jack, said that they launched a live sale on their Facebook and Instagram accounts and offered curbside pickup. They also started a website that allowed customers to order from anywhere in the country.

Kaplan said that everything has gone really well so far for both stores since they reopened to the public in mid-May.

Video by Andrew Isaacson