Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
AB Sporting Goods is the most recent casualty as a result of Governor Newsom’s COVID-19 lockdowns. The North County sports store has been in business for 70 years, but the lockdowns have made it too expensive for the owner to keep the store open.
Owner Greg Schloss said, “As time has gone on, I’ve just come to the conclusion that I’ll go broke if I tried to keep the store going. I don’t think anybody that cares about me, my family, or the store, would want that to happen. A couple of months ago, I just came to the conclusion that, I’m 61-years-old, I have hopefully a good life ahead of me, and the store has run its course. Any time you are running a family business, it is a struggle to keep the doors open in good times.”
The store’s major source of business was local sports organizations such as little league baseball, but since the season has been canceled, the store’s revenues have been decimated. These community sports clubs were integral to the success of the business, but the governor’s guidelines have forced them to cancel events for the time being.
The lockdowns need to come to end. The prevention measures can’t be worse than the virus itself, and the economic and social impacts we are facing now will last far longer than COVID. These restrictions have destroyed local businesses and numerous other community organizations and AB Sporting Goods is yet another casualty. It wasn’t the first and, unfortunately, it won’t be the last.
