Central Coast businesses have been hit hard by the impacts of the pandemic, but as COVID cases have declined and some business restrictions have lifted, several San Luis Obispo County shops are hiring for positions.
Store associates and managers in downtown San Luis Obispo said they saw an uptick in foot traffic on Saturday.
"We have probably seen a double amount of people coming in this weekend alone," Lulu Luxe supervisor, Lola Carpenter, said.
With San Luis Obispo County moving into the red COVID-19 tier, indoor dining has returned at 25% capacity and clothing stores can increase to 50% capacity.
"It might be because of the good weather, it might be also because things are starting to look a little bit more hopeful so I think people are coming in getting ready finally getting ready to show off their style again," Carpenter said.
Moondoggies sales associate Camryn Christensen said whiles sales have been steady in her store, she has also seen an uptick in foot traffic this weekend.
"It's almost like people want to support local businesses now more than ever which is really nice, we really appreciate it," Christensen said.
In a February monthly jobsreport, the unemployment rate fell to 6.2% nationally according to the US Labor Department.
Locally, some San Luis Obispo businesses are also hiring, including Lulu Luxe and Moondoggies.
"We are hiring for once break starts so once break starts so spring breaks which I believe is the end of march and then as well as summer break," Christensen said.
Some community members said shopping local is a priority as the economy continues to rebound.
"We made a decision today to come downtown and shop at one of the local shops as opposed to going to one of the big box shops to get the shoes," San Luis Obispo resident, Carmen Trudell said.
Sabetta's Pizza owner and Arroyo Grande resident, Mike Mora, said shopping local is more important than ever.
"it's very important that we support our local businesses especially the small businesses that are out there because they have been hurting for over a year and we need to support them right now," Mora said.
