Without the office worker, can the small shop owner exist?

Each month that COVID-19 has kept major business districts shuttered and office workers remote means another month without foot traffic and without business for millions of small businesses that serve downtown workers. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/29/nyregion/remote-work-coronavirus-pandemic.html

It’s not only those downtown restaurants, coffee shops, cafes and boutiques that have suffered but as anyone who has travelled along a commuter rail line in and out of New York City or many other cities across the world knows, there are thousands of small businesses that dot rail, bus and main throughways leading commuters from suburban towns into cities. All of these small shops have been forced to adapt to a world without foot traffic.

The future and outlook for these small businesses depends greatly on whether you think workers will return to concentrated business districts. Ever? In what capacity? At what frequency?

We started hacking on bachalaash.com one year ago as a way to drive high value, loyal, local customers to small independent shops. We feel certain that whatever the future holds the small businesses that survive will have to figure out how to acquire customers online. It’s no longer a ‘nice to have’. It’s no longer something that separates standout small shops. It’s now something that is the difference between life or death for the small retail business owner. What do you think? Can the small business owner survive without the office worker?