All in all, Beigi said revenue from in-person dining was only down $600 for the whole week, but his business lost $3,000 in catering revenue because the security measures meant it was impractical to drive a car with food out of his shop around the city. Delivery vehicles were permitted inside the perimeter, but businesses didn’t seem to get the message.
“How could you do delivery?” Beigi said. “All the streets were barricaded.”
But even with the loss, Beigi said he is not too upset, chalking it up to the risk inherent in running a business and fairly minor compared to the financial strain restaurants faced during Covid.
“Covid was 16 months,” Beigi said. “One week is nothing.”
The Mayor’s Office said it anticipated APEC would cause disruptions during the week despite extensive planning and, in response, the city launched a multiagency door-to-door outreach effort in the months leading up to the summit. The Mayor’s Office added that it believes APEC will bring long-lasting economic impacts to the area that will boost Downtown’s post-Covid recovery but did not provide further details.
“Now that APEC has officially concluded and all security elements have been removed, we are looking forward to a strong holiday season for our businesses, residents and visitors,” the Mayor’s Office said in an emailed statement.
The San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development said they and city partners are actively conversing with businesses and the community to understand their impacts and concerns.
“While APEC has been a boom to hotel occupancy and other sectors, the disruptions of security zones, traveling dignitaries, and protests have, unfortunately, disrupted visitation to our small businesses during the days of APEC,” OEWD said in a statement. “However, city efforts to support our small businesses will continue even after APEC; we’ll continue to promote support for local businesses throughout the holidays and beyond. And we hope to continue our work with our small business sector to understand and apply the lessons learned from APEC to create a roadmap for success for area businesses for future events of this magnitude.”
