Patrons rummage through old pins and tube socks in a vintage shop on Retro Row.
People sip libations and listen to live music in brewpubs and restaurants. Future whale watchers line up for an afternoon tour with Harbor Breeze Cruises.
And even festival-goers are getting back to their routine: earlier this week, Mexican food lovers dressed up for the first Long Beach Taco Festival, the first of its kind since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic early last year.
After more than a year of loss, isolation, mask mandates, and multiple waves of business shutdowns, all sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, things are starting to change.
After all, Long Beach has fewer restrictions now than almost any other time since the pandemic first broke out, and vaccination rates are increasing – just as the weather is warming.
And with most of the state’s COVID-19 regulations on businesses and gatherings lifted on June 15, the coming summer could usher in an era of post-pandemic normalcy.
Residents, business owners and city officials look forward to meeting again. In shops. In restaurants. In cinemas and stadiums. All without fear of infection.
And this summer, after 15 long months of lockdown and social distancing, Long Beach appears ready to make it happen.
Boost tourism
It’s been a rough year for Ficklewood Ciderworks.
The Broadway embroidery store had less than two months of business after opening last January before it had to close. But Stefano Enjem, who owns the watering hole along with Joe Farrier, said the two tried to make the most of it.
“It was an up and down adventure,” he said. “It is sure to be a difficult time opening a business, but we have received tremendous support from the Long Beach Community and Long Beach City.”
Instead of waiting for the shutdown, Enjem and Farrier used the time to invest more in Ficklewood. With some construction inside, they doubled their cider-making capacity.
In the meantime, customers took advantage of the delivery and take away options, even if they couldn’t drink on site. That helped the company to weather the crisis.
And now, said Enjem, things are looking good.
“We yell back,” he said. “We’re getting busier by the week and we’re seeing this trend increase.”
It’s a trend that Long Beach officials hope continues – and is willing to pay for it.
For example, the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau has launched a $ 2.5 million campaign to encourage people from across the region to eat in local restaurants, shop in local stores, and stay in local hotels.
“Tourism was the second largest employment sector in the city of Long Beach before COVID,” said Steve Goodling, president and CEO of the office, in a recent interview. “The faster we can get the tourism industry going, the faster we can get people back to work.
“Tourism,” he added, “is very important to the success of the local economy.”
Spending more than a year with little tourism has hit Long Beach hard.
For example, when the pandemic first occurred, hotel occupancy dropped to single digits. Overall, the city recorded a 38% drop in hotel taxes in fiscal 2020.
Long Beach’s unemployment rate also rose from 4% to 20% in less than a month due to the crisis, with many of the jobs affected being leisure and hospitality.
Now, Goodling hopes his office’s campaign – funded with $ 1.25 million from Long Beach reached by the state tourism agency Visit California – can fuel the demand that brings those jobs back.
The campaign features videos from dozens of local businesses and recommended itineraries for day-trippers seeking the best of what Long Beach has to offer. Ficklewood, for example, was featured in the “Beachside Brews & BitesItinerary.
And a few miles east on Retro Row on Fourth Street, Meow Vintage is one of the recommended “Retro whoa!Trips. Unlike Ficklewood, Meow Vintage has been in the business for 35 years. Owner Kathleen Schaaf said she was determined to survive the pandemic.
“I didn’t mean to fail,” she said. “I didn’t go out like that, no way, not how.”
Schaaf was in her shop every day, even when the shop had to be closed. She saw life die quickly on Fourth Street – and now it is being revived.
“In the last few weeks I don’t know if it’s a campaign or just about people feeling safer,” she said, “but a lot of tourists are coming to town – even now flying instead of just driving.”
But that doesn’t mean that things are back to normal – or that they will be soon.
“It was slow and steady, and because people have different schedules, like when they work from home or have a four-day work week, you don’t know when it will be busy,” said Schaaf. “A Monday could be like a Saturday. Wednesday could be like Friday.
“It doesn’t matter if people show up,” she added. “You just have to be there and be there for them.”
Normality will take time
Despite the recent economic boom and efforts by officials to make sure it continues, it will likely take a while for things to fully normalize, said John Keisler, the city’s director of economic development.
It could possibly be years.
That’s because two of Long Beach’s tourism industry anchors – cruises and the Convention Center – have not yet resumed.
For its part, the congress center will hold its first face-to-face meetings again in mid-August, which Keisler says will be “a big step in the right direction” for the local economy.
And cruises are expected to depart from the Long Beach terminal later this year. This industry typically attracts 600,000 to 700,000 visitors to the city annually.
“So many consumers on whom the economy of the local service sector depends,” said Keisler, “are actually visitors.”
Due to the ongoing uncertainty, especially regarding coronavirus variants, Keisler says it will likely be another year or two before the economy returns to its pre-pandemic dynamics.
Still, he said, the recovery was already evident – and this summer will only accelerate that momentum.
And June 15, the date when most restrictions are lifted, could be another catalyst.
“A lot of companies take on staff, training, and equipment purchases,” said Keisler. “All of this in preparation for these two big dates, mid-June and mid-August.”
People who have since missed a lot of Long Beach’s social scene want to reunite in many of these old places.
Take Angela Arvanitis, for example, who runs the Explore Long Beach meetup group. Some of her favorite events, she said in a phone interview, revolved around happy hour specials in various bars and restaurants.
The last year was a little different, however.
After spending some time in lockdown, Arvanitis decided to find ways to allow people to socialize safely. During the pandemic, the group’s events were mostly outdoor picnics, where people could bring their own food and set up their chairs at least 3 meters away. The club met at Marine Stadium, by the duck pond in El Dorado Park, and on a green space near Boathouse on the Bay.
These events, Arvanitis said, helped keep people from going too crazy. But she is happy about the prospect of being able to attend happy hour again.
However, it may be a while before bars and restaurants are ready to serve the 50 or more people who would show up on some Explore Long Beach outings before the coronavirus, even though members of the group take vaccinations seriously.
“It was difficult to go to the regular venues,” said Arvanitis, “because they don’t yet welcome large crowds.”
But if Keisler is right when it comes to ramping up companies for the summer, this could change sooner rather than later.
Arvanitis said she hope this is true.
“I’m waiting for all venues to replenish their staff,” she said. “I think staff is likely to be an issue for some of these places and hopefully they will all be up to date soon and we can start events again.”
“Time to get out of your cave”
At least at Ficklewood Ciderworks, this seems to be the case.
The tasting room, Enjem said, is likely to double its staff once the restrictions ease. The store is also expanding into an adjacent alley for more outdoor space.
“When the weather gets warmer, we get busier. It’s a direct relationship, ”he said. “Many of our customers are pedestrians, so nice weather definitely brings in more people.
So we look forward to continuing this upward trend in the summer, ”added Enjem.
And Schaaf, who watched the year from her Fourth Street store, said she was excited about what this upward trend means for Long Beach.
“It’s hard to believe we’re really going to get out,” she said. “It’s like we’re hibernating bears or something.
“It’s spring,” she said. “Time to get out of your cave.”
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