A Tale of Two Hyperlocal Family-Run Stores

A sub-class of small and medium(-sized) enterprises (SMEs) are family-run groceries and restaurants, both businesses hard hit by the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic, given the high-contact person-to-person nature of both. In one American Midwestern town, there are two stores that carry Asian foodstuffs. These are B2C and B2B businesses with a limited client base and tight profit margins. Theirs are pressured businesses given the racialized cultural atmosphere around COVID-19 in the US. Both businesses took different and limited strategies to survive in this COVID-19 era. This work uses qualitative research techniques—primary mixed methods research (in a light auto-ethnography) and publicly available data sources—to conduct an in-depth content analysis to examine the two family-run stores. Some ideas are advanced about ways to support such hyperlocal stores.