When California health officials issued stay-at-home orders last year as the coronavirus pandemic began to take over everyone's lives, small businesses on Catalina Island saw tourism plummet, leaving them with little to no customers to sustain them.
While walking through Avalon, KFI's Corbin Carson spoke with one small business owner who was busy at work unloading boxes.
"Everything was shut down, except for the expenses," Jerry Dunn said. "My wife and I own Boys and Gulls, Avalon Bay Company, Latitude 33, Hotel Vista del Mar, Snug Harbor Inn and the Scoops/Starbucks Ice Cream Shop."
When asked what it was like to see customers begin to return to the island as the stay-at-home orders are lifted, Dunn couldn't hide his relief.
"We love it, we absolutely love it. I mean, as scrambling around to find enough help and to get enough product, it's a good thing compared to the alternative that we had for almost a year," Dunn said.
"It was really tough. In the beginning you thought it was going to be a few weeks, and then it turned into a few months and the next thing you know a year's gone by and we're back into full-tilt last Thanksgiving. We didn't open until Feb. 12th this year."
Listen to Corbin's full report on how small businesses struggled to survive and comeback as COVID concerns begins to recede:
Photos: Corbin Carson