Small biz owner pivoted from selling party supplies to PPE
One small business owner in Downtown L.A. had to pivot to selling PPE after closing the doors to her storefront in March.
DOWNTOWN L.A. (KABC) -- Wendy Wu went from selling party supplies to selling PPE due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wu is the owner of JJ Ribbon, a party supplies store in Downtown Los Angeles.
"We can't do anything right now because we're trying to keep social distancing. We're not trying to encourage events so that's been tough on us," said Wu.
This store has been in her family for 25 years. Wu took over as owner from her parents in 2005.
"My family, they did ribbons. So, we manufactured and produced ribbons from our factories and brought it here to the United States. One of the first three companies bringing in ribbons," she said.
But when COVID-19 hit, Wu had more to worry about than just her business.
Her husband is a doctor at Kaiser Permanente. And when doctors and nurses were desperately needed in March, he volunteered to help on the frontline.
Seeing the need for PPE firsthand, Wu reached out to her manufacturing connections in the party supply industry.
That's when her new business took off.
Check out the video for the full story.
