Violence and property damage may hinder reopening of businesses amid coronavirus pandemic
Small business are feeling like they've been hit with a double whammy after the George Floyd unrest; Fox Business Network host Charles Payne reacts.
Fox Business anchor Charles Payne said on Tuesday that it is “heartbreaking” to witness the destruction of businesses that occurred during the protests over George Floyd's death on May 25 while in police custody.
“Target may be able to endure it, obviously, a lot more than say the small business owner down the street who worked for 40 years, saved up all of their money and thought they were fulfilling a lifelong dream,” the host of "Making Money with Charles Payne" told “America’s Newsroom.”
The civil unrest erupting across America following the death of Floyd is likely to slow the U.S. economy’s comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Violent protests and looting have left a trail of destruction from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, stressing already frazzled business owners who now have to clean off graffiti, sweep up shattered glass and replace pilfered merchandise and furnishings.
“This is a net negative, both in the short term and in the long term,” Sri Kumar, president of the Santa Monica, California-based Sri-Kumar Global Strategies, told FOX Business.
Payne said, on the other hand, entrepreneurs are “tough” people who take chances, make sacrifices, and work hours “no one else wants to work.”
“They're the toughest people we have in this country. That’s why they are the backbone of this country, so, I’m hoping that this violence, that this looting, that all of this can quell,” Payne said.
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Payne noted that Macy’s stock went up 22 percent last week.
“Macy’s is going to do what Macy’s is going to do, but someone with a small bar down the corner that saved their entire life savings opening it up. They’re on the precipice of being ruined.”
Fox Business's Jonathan Garber contributed to this report.
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