“Doesn’t make sense to be here” says Nesi Stewart
After a very quick start with many ideas for reform and jump starting local business cooperation, the Chairwoman of the Los Alamitos Chamber of Commerce has not only seen the momentum vanish, but has indeed had to close her own business.
For twelve successful years, Nesi Stewart and her husband have operated Printmasters, the small business they purchased in Los Alamitos twelve years ago.
Stewart took office in late January and had only enjoyed one full board meeting before the coronavirus pandemic literally brought this community to a screeching halt.
Stewart said she and her husband hung for a few days, but even before Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order to stay home, she had closed the doors of her business.
“It just didn’t make sense to be there,” she said. Customers dribbled in, then stopped altogether.
Now she, like many of her Chamber members, is faced with an unprecedented situation.
All Chamber ribbon cuttings had been postponed, now canceled. The March networking mixer is now cancelled, She said the manager of one local hotel she spoke with “had a five (5) percent occupancy. The hotel manager was “doing the housekeeping, bookkeeping and even arranged a makeshift wedding reception for “a crying lady” by rounding up a taco truck.
“We are being forced to take time off,” she said, adding that “this could be God’s way of telling us we’re trying to do too much.”
“There is so much unnecessary pressure from everyone,” she said, “maybe this will be a time of refreshment.”
Stewart admitted that her business, like all local businesses, will “require support” to restart.
“I was really excited about our last board meeting and gung ho about the future,” said Stewart, adding that she will be ready if and when the community gets the signal to get back on track.
“We have to fix this thing (Covid-19),” she said, “but we don’t want to stop moving.”
Photo by Loreen Berlin