RETAIL: The Politics Of Being “Essential”

In historical context, it was in December of 1888 when the artist Vincent Van Gogh cut off the lower part of his left ear. He was depressed at the time, and probably felt that his severed portion was no longer “essential.” Van Gogh removed it with a razor, and then apparently wrapped his body part for delivery to a maid in a nearby brothel.

This year of COVID-19 is clearly not 1888, but all the craziness surrounding coronavirus has caused our world of politics, government, and private enterprise to re-assess everything we consider “essential.” Van Gogh’s story doesn’t appear to be so out of place (or so long ago), as we deal with all the emotions related to re-opening our economy. In the fashion industry, we like to say that socks and underwear are essential but, by Government definition, they are not. Now everyone, from every type of business, wants their business or their product to be deemed “essential.” They want the opportunity to be first in line for the re-start.

A few weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory list of the core “essential” sections of our economy that need to remain open during the COVID-19 lockdown. They identified 16 focus areas and stated that this list was a suggestion – not a federal mandate. Several ancillary sectors fought hard to be included in the original list, which finally was published as:

*Healthcare/Public Health *Law Enforcement, Public Safety, and other First Responders *Food and Agriculture *Energy *Waste and Wastewater *Transportation and Logistics *Public Works and Infrastructure Support Services *Communications and Information Technology *Other Community or Government Based Operations and Essentials *Critical Manufacturing *Hazardous Materials *Financial services *Chemical *Defense Industrial Base *Commercial Facilities *Residential Shelter Facilities and Services *Hygiene Products and Services

Mayors and Governors retained the power to control their local “essential” designations, but the idea of being included on a newer list bubbled up again this week when the national dialogue shifted to re-opening the economy. Of course, just about every business designation wants to be the first to open, and right now it’s a total free-for-all which has the appearance of 40 people trying to get into a life raft that holds 20. A competitive process of this magnitude leads influential people to call for outside help and, sure enough, big-time lobbyists have signed up to save the day!

One example taken from the first draft of the original “essential” list, is that someone neglected to include firearms and shooting ranges. But, with powerful help, the gun lobby made sure that the industry was added. Of course, many will grumble that this is how Washington works and they are correct, but it’s hard to imagine how shooting ranges were left off the essential list, since it is completely obvious that they are of extreme importance to family life in America during a national stay-at-home health crisis. The add-back for them reads as follows: “workers supporting the operation of firearm, or ammunition products manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.”

Sure enough, other companies have also transcended into the newly discovered world of being designated “essential.” These companies extended their range well beyond the scope of firearms, but that’s politics and it is also reflective of how our political system works. To the average American, it just seems inappropriate to call in favors during a deadly health crisis and, it should be noted, that this also happened when the $2.2 trillion-dollar CARES Act stimulus package was making its way through Congress. The CARES Act had a massive amount of lobby activity, with more than $900 million being spent by companies in an attempt to guide the effort. Bottom line, people were trying to manipulate and protect their interests, so they could be in a better position when the economy opened up.

For the retail industry, we hold 10% of America’s jobs in our corner, and we also wish that we could have gained more for our community while the government was doling out the big bucks. Yes, we did get a reinstatement of a $15 billion tax credit for retail property improvements, but that served some and not all. We also experienced a semi-direct advantage from the Paycheck Protection Program in the form of forgivable small business loans designed to keep us afloat. However, as we applied for the loan programs, we were quick to learn of the difficulties to get approved. Truth be told, it hasn’t been easy to get the loan programs to work for us. Many smaller retailers just didn’t have the necessary bank arrangements in place and were (initially) bumped out of the application process, while many larger retailers had too much distressed debt and also failed to qualify.

More funds have now been approved by Congress, but time on our fashion clock is running out, and the task of scheduled re-openings has now been pushed to the state level. Retailers, under state mandate, are tasked with handling the crisis by using their own set of best practices. Unfortunately, the race to re-open continues, and just about every retailer wants to be considered “essential.” In some states, if the retailer ran a shooting range it would be easier for them to open than it would be for a store selling underwear and socks. Actually, many even wonder if items like zippers, buttons, and thread would be considered essential for apparel. Surely the waters have been muddied!

At this point, political polarization, protests, and State liberations have captured America’s imagination. Media has continued to view all this through a lens that is either colored red or blue.  Red States are characterized as rushing to open the economy and to re-elect the President. Blue States are characterized as being abundantly cautious and slower to move on the process. As an example, Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp (Republican) was skewered in the liberal media for his plan to open tattoo parlors and bowling alleys. This was followed by Atlanta, Georgia’s Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (Democrat) as she commented: “There’s nothing essential about going to a bowling alley.”

The abrupt realization of continued polarization will all hit the fan in the next few days or weeks, especially if the virus spreads because of the re-openings and more people die. COVID-19 continues to operate on virus time, and will certainly ignore re-opening time. Many of the original stay-at-home orders issued by the States are set to expire between April 30 – May 15 and many Governors are pushing hard to re-open in stages, so they can effectively gauge success or limit damage.

During the next few months, retail will migrate from “essential” business to “essential” consumer. The retail comfort level for a safe shopping experience will ultimately be the determining factor of our short-term success or failure.

It’s interesting to witness (in real-time) how the word “essential” has suddenly popped up in our vernacular, as a way to connect or disconnect the resurrection of America’s economy with our own personal safety. We have also learned that the word “essential” has been adjusted behind the scenes by people who are playing politics with our well-being.

In retail, we don’t need to be liberated, but we do need to get back to work.

More than 100 years ago, viewed through an artist’s lens, it was Vincent Van Gogh, who said that we should “exaggerate the essential (and) leave the obvious vague.”

It is truly amazing how, in one short fragment of a sentence, Van Gogh was able to capture America’s current state of affairs.