COVID 5 Years Later: Looking through the lens of a small business owner in Center City

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- El Fuego's burrito business booms every lunch hour at 7th and Walnut streets in Center City Philadelphia.

But not long ago, business was bleak.

"Take me back to March 2020," said Nydia Han.

"In the beginning, it was very weird and it was kind of lonely," answered Pete Ellis owner of El Fuego.

Ellis lost almost every employee, many of them were single moms whose help was needed at home.

"It was very taxing on my family and I know for my partner," he said.

They cut back business hours and food costs.

"We didn't pay ourselves for months at a time," he added. "And I was forced to do side jobs like DoorDash and Uber."

Today, El Fuego still operates only on weekdays and only for lunch.

And just this past year, Ellis and his partner had to sell their food truck, which had been doing a brisk business on the Univerisity of Pennsylvania's campus before the pandemic.

"How did you feel when you made that hard decision to sell the food truck?" asked Nydia Han.

"It was very sad for us, like knowing that we were, that we had to make that hard decision," said Ellis. "But when that happens, you just have to be forced to adapt and change and just keep on going."

According to our 6abc data journalist team, business closures in Philadelphia peaked in 2021, with more than 3,400 locations closing their doors, including 20% in the accommodations and food services industry and 17% in the arts, entertainment and recreation category, followed by 13% in retail.

"We just kept on fighting every week, every week, every week," said Ellis.

The positive news for Philadelphia is by 2022, the number of business locations and employees not only bounced back but rose higher than the pre-pandemic numbers, although some are still struggling to get back to that level.

"Our busiest days used to be Friday, and now it's one of our slowest days because most people have that virtual day on Friday," said Ellis.

But Ellis has hope he'll soon open on Saturdays again.

He said hope mixed with hard lessons is the recipe for survival rather than success.

"I think that's one of the biggest things I've learned. When you're up against the wall, you have two choices: you can fight or you can flee. And we chose to fight. And here we are still."

Ellis also said he never took out a short-term PPP loan or any loan to stay afloat.

He said he and his partner decided they wanted to figure it out on their own despite it not being easy.