Coronavirus, Looting Fears Still Keep Most Non-Essential Stores Shut Even As NYC Begins To Reopen

Since temporarily shutting his game shop in late March as part of New York’s coronavirus-led orders, Leslie Luie reopened his store in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, the first day when the largest U.S. city allows non-essential stores including his to reopen for in-store or curbside pickup. 

However, his store was the rare exception. Among both major and independent shops across midtown and downtown Manhattan, the engine of the city whose health is key to the U.S. economy, shuttered-and-many-now-boarded-up clothing, home furnishings, electronics and other stores were common sights. Meanwhile, for many essential stores that were open—from Target
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and Amazon
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’s Whole Foods to CVS and 7-Eleven — business since the past week began to be done behind boarded-up windows, with just one door open for customers to enter. 

“It’s not like we don’t have to pay any rent,” said Luie, whose store nearby Herald Square also had been boarded up since last Tuesday after looters broke a glass door. “If you are not open, you are still going to have to open next week, or the third week.” 

While Luie considers himself ‘very lucky” without more property damage, a few blocks south of his store, a small closed flower shop had a cardboard covering a broken glass window. A piece of plywood covered the broken window of a Korean restaurant where a handwritten note on the door said it was already “out of business” and begged to have its windows spared.

Even after the number of reported looting incidents has declined significantly since last week, the fresh memory of opportunistic looters raiding many areas of the city amid protests over the death of George Floyd still lingers and is dealing a major blow to many retailers already reeling from the pandemic. 

Luie, for one, said not all of his employees felt comfortable returning to work especially since the additional pandemic-related unemployment insurance amounts to more than what he could afford to pay them. 

While he felt safe during the day especially with increased police presence nearby, he admits it could be “scary” when it gets dark. He plans to keep the store boarded up until after the end of protests. Business getting back to normal will also still be a long shot especially without the return of tourists to the city, he said. 

However, the first day back to business, for now, was “okay” for him, thanks to the return of some loyal customers and little competition in the neighborhood, especially with the continued store closings of his larger chain rivals GameStop
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and Best Buy
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nearby.

“People have stayed home for so long,” he said, adding he plans to renegotiate rent payment with his landlord and asks to split half way each.

Luie may be one small merchant but his sentiment is reflected in the sea of boarded-up and mostly still closed stores in the city including Macy’s historic flagship that was ransacked by looters, Victoria’s Secret and H&M.  Saks Fifth Avenue, after looters raided many of its luxury peers from Bergdorf Goodman to Chanel and others from Apple
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to Nike
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a week earlier, has had private security guards, including some two dozen I saw on Monday night, protecting its boarded-up and razor-wire-enforced flagship every day for the past week. One guard told me they were expected to be there for at least another week. 

A Saks spokeswoman declined to comment on its security measures. 

While fewer than the number a week earlier, a few guards were also still stationed outside Nike’s six-story flagship opened just 18 months ago.

New York may have flattened, or bended, the coronavirus curve, but the impact of the one-two punch dealt the economic capital of the U.S. is far from over. 

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