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After a year and a half of restrictions due to the pandemic, Halloween is back, especially for those visiting The Merrow in Hillcrest on Saturday night.
“The energy is back and it’s exciting,” said owner Paul Smith.
The Merrow performance of Hillcrest’s Variety Pack Halloween Edition brought out costumes, smiles and cheers as the San Diego live events industry continues to recover from pandemic losses.
The live events industry was one of the first to close at the start of the pandemic and one of the last to greet crowds during California’s reopening – the pandemic forced thousands of event cancellations on-site, from small concerts to San Diego’s comic strip -Con International 2020.
Smith’s bar and live music venue, along with thousands of others nationwide, fully reopened on June 15th after 15 months of repeated closings.
He told NBC 7 that things have mostly returned to normal and his sales are actually higher now compared to pre-pandemic times.
“Preliminary predictions show we’re probably 20 to 30% better, which is great,” he said. “If I can just go on with what we’re doing … I would be happy with it.”
But he said some signs of the pandemic still persist.
“There are still, I think, a lot of people who come out that they don’t really want to be inside. They still want to stay outside – they feel safer, ”he said.
Because of this, he said a parking lot just feet from his company’s front door has been turned into an outside bar and dining area, especially given the staffing shortages and supply chain issues that his company and so many others are feeling the effects of.
“It gave us extra income and more space,” he said. “I am happy that we have managed to find a niche in this relaxation from which we can benefit.”
Smith and the cast of The Merrow said that the stage of the business is helping them all get back on their feet, and that the fight made their comeback even sweeter.
“COVID gave us a glimpse of what we are missing,” said Marvin, the show’s promoter. “Because when everything paused, it was just like this: That’s what my life is about and that’s why I missed it. It’s like this hole that had to be mended again. “
Smith said his venue is fully booked with performances for the month of November and that he hopes he can eventually make the outdoors a permanent part of his business.
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