CANON CITY — Small businesses have taken a hit because of COVID-19 nationwide, which is why Canon City brought back a classic cruise down Main Street on Friday to show their support for local shop owners.
Cathy and Larry Finney said they have lived in Canon City for over 50 years, and actually met on Main Street back in 1981. They also own a business on Main Street, and stood outside of their location waving at the passing cars on Friday evening. "Just the driving up and down is solidarity, and it's saying to the people on Main Street, we love you, we will be here for you... We're all looking for that miracle, and there's quite a few of us on Main Street that are needing it, we've had a rough go at it," said Cathy.
One of those small business owners also having a tough time is Dawn Schmittel, who bought a bar called My Brother's Place around 13 years ago. "If you come in here and you don't know anybody, it's five minutes and you know everybody. It's that kind of a bar," said Schmittel.
Schmittel said regardless, they will never be able to make up what has been lost so far, but they will bounce back. "From January 1 to the day we were closed last year, versus this year, I'm down about $170,000 gross," said Schmittel, who also told News5 they have not gotten any federal support money.
An organizer of the cruise also owns a dance studio on Main Street, and said the goal of this drive is to stand up for small businesses. "We went from thriving, to survival, and now in the future, like I said, if we're not able to get our businesses open, and open to full capacity, as soon as we possibly can, we may not have a future," said Arah Rossi, one of the organizers and the owner of Trevarah Studio.
Rossi said this is the second cruise Canon City has done, and they will continue to do so until businesses are back open.
