Historic Philadelphia Market Learns to Survive the COVID-19 Crisis
2021-03-03
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1The Reading Terminal Market, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is 128 years old.
2It is a historic place with almost 150 different vendors who run small shops and restaurants inside an old railroad station.
3Some of the vendors sell flowers, baked goods, cheese and sandwiches.
4Others sell meat, fish and things to use in your home like cloth and cooking tools.
5When the coronavirus health crisis started one year ago, many of the people who have businesses in the market were worried about the future.
6The market is close to Philadelphia's City Hall and the city's convention center where businesses and organizations hold meetings for thousands of people.
7But the market lost a lot of customers when people who worked nearby started working from home and people stopped visiting the city.
8There was about one-third the usual number of people coming to the market during most of 2020.
9Some businesses decided to close for a short time.
10But the market building stayed open.
11 Some of the businesses that sold necessary products like eggs and flour were able to survive.
12But many of them had to reduce the number of people they employed or reduce their hours.
13Annie Allman manages the Reading Terminal Market.
14She said businesses were severely hurt.
15"We were wiped out," she said.
16The market is normally a popular stop for visitors to Philadelphia and a place for workers in nearby offices to buy lunch.
17But numbers from research company Econsult Solutions, Inc. show about 40 percent fewer people than usual visited Philadelphia in 2020.
18Other business owners around the U.S. are facing the same kinds of problems.
19Restaurants, shops and other service businesses are seeing slow recoveries in many parts of the country.
20But people continue to be worried about traveling or spending time with people other than family.
21Athens Voulgaridis runs a store that sells Greek food and sandwiches inside the market.
22The store opened in 1984.
23"All our customer base has just disappeared," he said.
24Philadelphia permitted people to eat at restaurants indoors only recently.
25The situation is getting better.
26But Voulgaridis said sales are down by about 65 percent compared to most years.
27He used to have six employees.
28Now he only has three.
29Joe Nicolosi owns a sandwich shop in the market called DiNic's.
30It opened in 1980.
31Before the pandemic, he would sell about 1,000 sandwiches on a busy Saturday.
32During the last year, even on busy days, he has only sold about 100.
33That has meant fewer jobs.
34He used to have over 20 employees.
35During the coronavirus health crisis, he only needed five.
36"Twenty-five percent staff size, and we were still overstaffed," he said.
37Allman, who supervises the Reading Terminal Market, said many of the stores are still working because of government aid money.
38In addition, the market raised over $520,000 in donations through the website GoFundMe.com to help cover operating costs.
39Nicolosi closed DiNic's for three months in 2020.
40Then he tried a service that sends popular foods to customers across the country as a way to keep his business going.
41He said the service, called Goldbelly, helped his business make money starting in the later part of 2020.
42While some businesses were better prepared than others for the coronavirus restrictions, all of them have taken some losses.
43Nicolosi said he has spoken with other shop owners at the market.
44He thinks people will feel as if things are getting back to normal when they hear that Philadelphia is planning big events again.
45One of those events is the city's auto show, which is now planned for June.
46It used to be one of the market's busiest weeks.
47Nicolosi is hopeful.
48"Knowing that's going to happen, like all right, and that week happening, and it is very busy, then it's like 'OK we're headed towards a place where we're going to get back to something like where we were at before.'"
49Nicolosi said he prepares about six hams each day to make sandwiches.
50When he starts having to cook more ham, he will know business is getting better.
51Right now, more people in Philadelphia are getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.
52One of the places where people are receiving the vaccine is the Pennsylvania Convention Center next to the market.
53It also is where the auto show will be held.
54One recent day, people came into the market after getting their vaccine.
55As a result, the vendors at the market are starting to feel good that business will pick up again.
56When it comes back, Nicolosi said he thinks people will be excited to go out to their favorite places and spend money again.
57"Whether it's three months, six months or two years, that there's a chance that we're going to come out of this...and people are going to be out more than ever and there's going to be a pent-up urge to eat out and to travel and to you know, do things that kind of people have missed doing even more so than before."
58I'm Dan Friedell.
1The Reading Terminal Market, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is 128 years old. 2It is a historic place with almost 150 different vendors who run small shops and restaurants inside an old railroad station. Some of the vendors sell flowers, baked goods, cheese and sandwiches. Others sell meat, fish and things to use in your home like cloth and cooking tools. 3When the coronavirus health crisis started one year ago, many of the people who have businesses in the market were worried about the future. 4The market is close to Philadelphia's City Hall and the city's convention center where businesses and organizations hold meetings for thousands of people. But the market lost a lot of customers when people who worked nearby started working from home and people stopped visiting the city. 5There was about one-third the usual number of people coming to the market during most of 2020. Some businesses decided to close for a short time. But the market building stayed open. Some of the businesses that sold necessary products like eggs and flour were able to survive. But many of them had to reduce the number of people they employed or reduce their hours. 6Annie Allman manages the Reading Terminal Market. She said businesses were severely hurt. "We were wiped out," she said. 7Stories of business survival 8The market is normally a popular stop for visitors to Philadelphia and a place for workers in nearby offices to buy lunch. But numbers from research company Econsult Solutions, Inc. show about 40 percent fewer people than usual visited Philadelphia in 2020. 9Other business owners around the U.S. are facing the same kinds of problems. Restaurants, shops and other service businesses are seeing slow recoveries in many parts of the country. But people continue to be worried about traveling or spending time with people other than family. 10Athens Voulgaridis runs a store that sells Greek food and sandwiches inside the market. The store opened in 1984. "All our customer base has just disappeared," he said. 11Philadelphia permitted people to eat at restaurants indoors only recently. The situation is getting better. But Voulgaridis said sales are down by about 65 percent compared to most years. He used to have six employees. Now he only has three. 12Joe Nicolosi owns a sandwich shop in the market called DiNic's. It opened in 1980. Before the pandemic, he would sell about 1,000 sandwiches on a busy Saturday. During the last year, even on busy days, he has only sold about 100. 13That has meant fewer jobs. He used to have over 20 employees. During the coronavirus health crisis, he only needed five. 14"Twenty-five percent staff size, and we were still overstaffed," he said. 15Allman, who supervises the Reading Terminal Market, said many of the stores are still working because of government aid money. In addition, the market raised over $520,000 in donations through the website GoFundMe.com to help cover operating costs. 16Nicolosi closed DiNic's for three months in 2020. Then he tried a service that sends popular foods to customers across the country as a way to keep his business going. He said the service, called Goldbelly, helped his business make money starting in the later part of 2020. 17While some businesses were better prepared than others for the coronavirus restrictions, all of them have taken some losses. Nicolosi said he has spoken with other shop owners at the market. He thinks people will feel as if things are getting back to normal when they hear that Philadelphia is planning big events again. 18One of those events is the city's auto show, which is now planned for June. It used to be one of the market's busiest weeks. 19Nicolosi is hopeful. 20"Knowing that's going to happen, like all right, and that week happening, and it is very busy, then it's like 'OK we're headed towards a place where we're going to get back to something like where we were at before.'" 21Nicolosi said he prepares about six hams each day to make sandwiches. When he starts having to cook more ham, he will know business is getting better. 22Right now, more people in Philadelphia are getting vaccinated against the coronavirus. One of the places where people are receiving the vaccine is the Pennsylvania Convention Center next to the market. It also is where the auto show will be held. 23One recent day, people came into the market after getting their vaccine. As a result, the vendors at the market are starting to feel good that business will pick up again. 24When it comes back, Nicolosi said he thinks people will be excited to go out to their favorite places and spend money again. 25"Whether it's three months, six months or two years, that there's a chance that we're going to come out of this...and people are going to be out more than ever and there's going to be a pent-up urge to eat out and to travel and to you know, do things that kind of people have missed doing even more so than before." 26I'm Dan Friedell. 27Jonnelle Marte wrote this story for the Reuters news agency. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English with original interviews. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 28Would you like to visit the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia someday? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 29_______________________________________________________________ 30Words in This Story 31\vendor - n. a business that sells a particular type of product 32sandwich - n. two pieces of bread with something (such as meat, peanut butter, etc.) between them 33customer - n. someone who buys goods or services from a business 34wiped out -adj. the way of describing the state of having no money 35staff - n. a group of people who work for an organization or business 36ham - n. meat from the leg of a pig that is often prepared by smoking or salting 37pent-up - adj. held or kept inside; not released