Chicago City Wire

As sales decline drastically at HuxHemp CBD Apothecary, owner Russell Huxhold must move to a new storefront in the middle of a pandemic.

He doesn't worry about things like Gov. J.B. Pritzker possibly canceling the Cubs' season along with all large group events this summer. 

He has his own crisis. His current building is being torn down.

"Amongst everything else, another sale location I have to get up working during this,” Huxhold said. “Talk about the worst timing all of a sudden.”

With almost no cash flow, he must move his business to a new storefront at 3101 N. Lincoln.

The coronavirus pandemic has hurt his business.

“Business is down 75 percent. It’s a numbers’ game really. If two-thirds or three-quarters of the people don’t go out, they’re not going to be spending any money,” Huxhold said.

His business revolves around education about his products, which depends on face-to-face interaction. He possibly could accomplish some of this online, but he said he’s not a big company so it’s not as easy.

The coronavirus crisis has changed how he does business.

“I offer curbside pickup on purchases over the phone. I do deliveries through the U.S. Post Office,” Huxhold said. “I have made some local stops, too. I view this as medicine. If someone needs their medicine, I go out of my way to help out.”

A big problem he has is paying sales tax with no sales.

“How do they expect you to pay that when no sales are coming in? I haven’t heard Pritzker talking about that in weeks,” he said.

He recalls bars and restaurants getting a halt on some tax payments, but nobody else.

And Huxhold hasn’t heard of any local small business owners getting approved for relief money after applying.

Now that Wrigleyville is a destination, it’s different for the area, he said. People used to come to Southport and the surrounding neighborhoods to stop in the bars and visit local shops. But with many of those bars gone and Uber dropping fans right at Wrigley, they haven’t been frequenting the local shops near his at 3714 N. Southport Ave.

When the Cubs play at home, it can hurt his business a little. The parking and congestion issues keep some of his regular customers away.

The Cubs brought in an estimated $789 million in spending in the local community last year. That included direct, indirect and induced spending. The games and related businesses increase employment and tax revenues at local, county and state levels.

Direct spending alone includes game-day operations, lodging, restaurants, retail shops and non-Cubs entertainment. It reached an estimated $457 million in 2019.

This year, that spending will be closer to zero than hundreds of millions of dollars.