COVID-19 Impacts Update: Groton Business Survey Results

At the Town Council meeting held on October 27, NaviRetail staff members presented their findings of the first two phases of their analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on the Groton economic market. The ongoing NaviRetail study is designed to identify which business categories are seeing a return of consumer spending and which categories are lagging in their recovery. The recording of the presentation can be viewed at the Groton Municipal Television YouTube Channel.

COVID-related business closures have disrupted a significant portion of our retail, restaurant and personal services businesses. It is expected that in the coming months the impacts will continue, including permanent closings, downsizing and changes in business models.

As part of second phase of the project, NaviRetail once again surveyed local businesses to find out how they were doing post-reopen. As well as surveying local business vitality during the pandemic, NaviRetail studied the effects on lodging sector. In addition to the COVID-19 research, NaviRetail is creating a list of potential new retailers that may be a good fit for the community.

This study effort is designed to allow us to gauge rates of recovery over time and to be more responsive and offer assistance to struggling business sectors before businesses are forced to close permanently. Without this data, only a post-mortem review of business closures would reveal what types of assistance might have been effective.

The findings from the Phase 2 Business Survey are summarized here.

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