DELAND, Fla. - On March 1, Paul Weintraub and his mother thought their business ownership dreams had finally come true, taking over an established antique store, Backhome Antiques, on the main street of popular Downtown DeLand.
"My first week was a good one,” Weintraub said.
It wasn’t long before he found out March 2020 wouldn’t be the best month for a new business to get off the ground.
Of everything in his business plan, a pandemic was not something he expected.
Weintraub said in just a matter of days foot traffic cleared from the downtown and his business dropped by, he estimates, about 90-95 percent.
Weintraub said it looked like his new business was going down as fast as he had gotten it opened.
That is until he got a lifeline from his landlord.
"I couldn't believe it. Honestly, when I got the news,” he said. "The owner of the building is actually a trust and the manager of the trust decided to give us all a really big break: Charged me $1 for the month of April."
Weintraub says that was the deal for about a half dozen businesses on the block - all managed by the same company.
The timing, it seems, couldn’t have been better as Weintraub says many of those businesses, like his own, have been forced to reduce hours, cut costs, and he’s seen some even close completely as they wait for the COVID-19 crisis to pass.
The business owners are in the same boat as a lot of Floridians and Americans right now: Trying to figure out how they’ll pay the rent throughout this crisis.
"For Floridians across the state and Americans across the country, they're nervous about how they're going to pay rent this week,” said Orlando State Representative Anna Eskamani on Tuesday.
Eskamani was one of several Florida Democratic lawmakers that held a virtual press conference Tuesday morning urging Governor Ron DeSantis to place a moratorium on evictions until the crisis runs its course.
The lawmakers said it wouldn’t be rent forgiveness, just assurance that no one would lose the roof over their heads during the crisis.
Lawmakers have made similar moves in other states and the federal stimulus that was just passed does offer mortgage assistance to ease some of the burdens for property owners.
Back in DeLand, Weintraub says the assistance his landlord’s given has likely saved his business for the time being, though he appreciates the sacrifice the building’s owners are making.
"I mean, imagine how much money this man said, 'I'm giving up,'" Weintraub said. "That's a lot of money."
However, he says with a chance, now he’s running sales throughout his store, launching special offers to bring in what foot traffic he can and trying to expand his selling presence online to make sure the lifeline pays off.
Weintraub says his doors will stay open until he’s forced to close them.