The Beads by the Bay store on Morro Bay Blvd.
–To say the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into retail business in downtown Morro Bay would be an understatement. For several weeks, all stores were shuttered tight and for once in a lifetime there was no traffic sailing up and down Morro Bay Boulevard and Main Street, the heart of downtown. Businesses had to think outside the box to come up with a survival plan.
Two businesses had something extra going for them. Because COVID was keeping everyone at home an uptake in doing crafts began and suddenly people realized they had time to read. These two things helped Beads by the Bay and Coalesce Bookstore. That is not to say that both Susan Stewart owner of Beads by the Bay and Linna Thomas, proprietor of Coalesce Bookstore had it easy.