A year ago, Ninfa Ortiz had so many customers at Milagro’s Beauty Salon, she expanded into an adjacent space, adding 14 new stations between her hair and nail business.
This week, the chairs in her New Hope salon sat empty. Two employees in the shop killed time by doing each other’s nails.
Ortiz, who has been in business for more than a decade, said 90% of her clientele comes from the Latino community.
@sahanjournal Many Latino-owned businesses in Minnesota have seen a sharp drop in business since Trump’s inauguration. Organizers of the statewide “Day With Latinos” hope shoppers will turn out to give them a boost. Reporting by Alfonzo Galvan. Video by Dymanh Chhoun #latino #latinobusiness #minneapolis #twincities #minnesota #immigrants ♬ original sound – Sahan Journal
Since President Donald Trump’s election, however, her customers aren’t showing up.
Ortiz rated the economy “good” during Trump’s first presidency and said that she trusts the president, but the side effects of his current immigration policy are taking a toll on her business.
On Tuesday, Ortiz joined more than a dozen Latino business owners for a news conference in Minneapolis organized by Colonial Market owner Daniel Hernandez to appeal to the community for relief.
The statewide “Dia con Latinos” scheduled for Saturday was dreamed up by Hernandez to give struggling immigrant businesses a boost.
Hernandez said more than 300 businesses signed up to participate before he stopped counting — a small slice of the 14,000 Latino-owned businesses in Minnesota.
The “Day with Latinos” follows a nationwide “Day Without Immigrants” where businesses across the state closed and workers took a day off to show the impact of immigrants.
“This [problem] isn’t just Minnesota, it’s nationwide,” Hernandez said at the news conference. “Most businesses have been hurt between 40 percent, some even 60 percent.”
Hernandez said he has lost $100,000 at his grocery store chain since Trump’s inauguration, slowing his plans to open a new store at a former Aldi site in north Minneapolis.
“I’m not saying I’m not opening, I’m just saying I need help,” Hernandez said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who recently posted a video promoting Lake Street businesses, said his call to action for the people of Minneapolis was simple.
“Go out and buy a taco, go buy flowers, go buy a new dress whether it’s down on East Lake Street or anywhere else,” Frey said.
Ortiz echoed Frey’s plea for customers to support Latino businesses.
“Come try our work, everything we do here,” Ortiz said. “We can mutually help each other and the Latino community.”
Guillermina Figueroa, owner of Floreria Yare on East Lake Street, joined the business owners at Tuesday’s news conference.
Floreria Yare just finished an unusually slow Valentine’s Day season, she said, with sales down 50% in January and likely even lower in February.
Figueroa has been in business for 16 years but said the last month was her worst ever.
Her shop is located at Plaza Mexico, home to dozens of Latino businesses. Figueroa said in the days after Trump’s inauguration, the plaza was buzzing with rumors and anxious employees worried about immigration raids.
“I’m still scared. The first two days I spent depressed, but I have to keep moving forward. Eight years ago [my children] were so young they would come home crying and worried — the same as many children are now,” Figueroa said.
John Pacheco, president of the Latino Chamber of Commerce Minnesota, said the pressure faced by business owners is something he discusses everyday while out in the community.
According to him, it’s got some owners feeling “low internally.”
Pacheco urged those who can to spend money at the small businesses that are most affected.
“Call your friends and do whatever you can to support the community, it’s a scary time for our community. [Businesses] can go and not come back,” Pacheco said.
Ortiz said it will take the help of nontraditional customers giving businesses like hers a try.
“I’m desperate, that’s why I’m telling my coworkers we should look for ways to promote more on social media,” Ortiz said.
Figueroa has also been trying to use social media to reach new customers.
According to her, social media trends have been influencing her products for the last six years ever since she made her first “ramo buchon” for a client.
Now Figueroa is focused on the upcoming International Women’s Day on March 8 for sales and March 21, a date she said was popularized a few years ago in the Latino community when social media users started asking their romantic interests for yellow flowers on Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace, and on March 21.
“If it was up to me there’d be a trend every month,” Figueroa said.
