LOS ANGELES (AP) – For nine nights culminating on Christmas Eve, the oldest street in Los Angeles usually comes to life with a festive staging of the history of the nativity scene, while children playing Maria and José go from door to door in search of shelter where she can give birth to Jesus.
If the procession were held this year, they would find many of Olvera Street’s businesses closed.
The Mexican market, known as the Los Angeles birthplace, was particularly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with shops and restaurants closed and others barely able to survive. California is facing its worst coronavirus outbreak by far, and Los Angeles is among the places with the highest peak.
“It’s very sad now,” said Edward Flores, owner of Juanita’s Café, where according to the state’s health order, meals can only be served for travel and business has fallen by 90%. “I know of six (companies) that went bankrupt. These are my neighbors and my friends. Seeing them fail through no fault of their own is heartbreaking. “
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EDITOR’S NOTE – Small businesses around the world are struggling for survival amid the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. If they achieve this, it will affect not only local economies, but the structure of communities. Associated Press journalists tell their stories in the “Small Business Struggles” series.
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On Olvera Street, the brick alley covered with trees that is usually full of tourists is empty. Many of the stores that sell everything from traditional Mexican folk dresses to paintings by artist Frida Kahlo and sombreros are padlocked and those that open have few, if any, customers. The strains of the mariachi trios became quiet and the fragrance of the fried taquitos became less pungent.
The response to COVID-19 in California – varying degrees of downtime and changes in rules that limit capacity and how food can be served – has been crippling for many companies. But the impact on Rua Olvera is somewhat unique.
Shops and restaurants depend heavily on tourism that has collapsed around the world under blocking orders, quarantine rules or the reality that many people do not want to expose themselves while traveling.
They also have a crowd of lunches conducted by employees of downtown offices and people who attend proceedings in nearby courts. These customers have disappeared with so many people working from home and many lawsuits conducted online or over the phone.
Cultural events held throughout the year that attract large crowds have been canceled this year to prevent mass outbreaks. There was no blessing of the animals in April, no Cinco de Mayo, no Dia de los Muertos in the fall and no Las Posadas celebration marking the trip to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.
The street, named after the county’s first judge, is the thriving center of Los Angeles’ El Pueblo Historical Monument, close to where the city’s original settlers established an agricultural community in 1781. It was dilapidated in the early 20th century until be restored and rethought as a market in 1930 and became a kind of museum of living history.
More than 2 million people visit the site, which is open every day of the year and houses four museums, two churches and more than 70 shops and restaurants.
Valerie Hanley, treasurer of the Olvera Street Merchants Association Foundation and owner of a store, said that only about a fifth of stores are open during the week and about two-thirds open from Friday to Sunday to try to survive.
“We are sucking air,” said Hanley, who runs Casa California with his 83-year-old mother. “The little we do … is enough to put food on the table, keep her safe and pay some bills.”
The owners took a break in July, when their landlord – the city of Los Angeles – decided to forgive the rent until the end of the year. Hanley now worries about how many companies will be able to hold out until rents expire in January, after they have just received the county property tax bills they are required to pay.
Many of the owners are third and fourth generations, and Hanley said that ties to the past would be lost if they closed.
When Debbie Briano’s great-grandmother established El Rancho Grande as a restaurant in 1930, there was no electricity. She cooked meat on charcoal at home and the market was lit by oil lamps. Briano’s father, from whom she inherited the business when he died, spent his entire life on the street and as a boy pulled a red cart with baked beans from his grandmother’s house to the restaurant, she said.
“It’s amazing when I hear all of this and think, ‘I can’t let this go,'” said Briano. “My father left this to me because he knew that I would take care of this business.”
Even though the December light casts long shadows on the market, Briano does not give up. She is serving take-out food and is paying five employees – including brothers who have worked there for 55 and 48 years each – but not herself.
It is sad to see the stores closed and the emptiness looks like she entered an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” she said. Canceling the Las Posadas celebration means that there are no children swinging on a pinata every night or singing Christmas carols as they follow the procession of angels and shepherds taking Maria and José on their journey from Nazareth.
But Briano still decorated his coffee as he normally would at Christmas. She bought poinsettias, set up a real tree, hung ornaments, lights, and hung little snowmen and Santa Claus above her window.
“I had to do this to feel normal,” she said. “I will not let COVID take away our Christmas magic.”
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