Economics

In Just Hours, America’s Family Businesses Hurtled Into Limbo

From Philadelphia to San Francisco, small business is hurting
Smaller companies employ nearly half the U.S. workforce

A restaurant employee waits for customers in San Francisco, California, on March 16.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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By Cecile Daurat, Jordyn Holman, Edward Ludlow, and Max Reyes

March 17, 2020 at 11:58 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Kimberly Anderson has owned a women’s clothing store in Philadelphia for 15 years. She had less than four hours to shut it down.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Anderson said as she rushed to shutter Kimberly Boutique by 5 p.m. on Monday, meeting a city-imposed deadline for non-essential retailers.