Starting a new business on Martha’s Vineyard takes courage during the best of times. But even in the face of the pandemic, optimistic risk-takers have opened shops, galleries, restaurants and services.
Leslie’s Drug Store, a family-run pharmacy and Main street institution in Vineyard Haven since 1948, will permanently close at the end of this year, after 72 years in business.
Small business owners on Martha’s Vineyard can now apply for forgivable federal loans covering up to $10,000 of losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite a lost spring and an unprecedented shutdown that forced closures long into the summer, most main street businesses said July and August allowed them to catch up.
Two of the Island’s four cinemas will soon be showing movies again, as the third phase of pandemic reopening begins. But many businesses are taking a more gradual approach.