COVID-19 Resource Center: In Good Company

We have always prided ourselves in creating a friendly, inspiring and comfortable marketplace but now we are also focused on extra measures to ensure that Dallas Market Center is safe to visit and is promoting good health and strict social distancing. Our new guidelines are outlined below.

Along with these new steps we are taking, there are safety measures that are part of the design of our marketplace: open parking, large entryways, quick registration in multiple areas, wide hallways, and showrooms with controlled access to allow for the appropriate distance between customers.

While on campus, everyone should follow the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control regarding good hygiene, sanitation, and social distancing. Those details are available here. In accordance with Governor Abbott’s Texans Helping Texans: The Governor’s Report To Open Texas, below are the specific guidelines for the operation of Dallas Market Center buildings.

1. The buildings are undergoing a complete deep cleaning with hospital-grade antibacterial cleaners, including all vulnerable hard surfaces.
2. All DMC staff will wear protective masks or face covering.
3. All DMC staff will be regularly screened for signs or symptoms of possible COVID-19 and will be sent home for quarantine if exhibiting any symptoms as outlined in the Governor’s standard health protocols.
4. Staff entering the facility will wash hands and/or sanitize hands.
5. Anyone who has been in contact with anyone ill in the last 14 days, who is feeling ill themselves, or who has symptoms outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services should not enter the buildings.
6. The buildings will maintain daily enhanced cleaning and wide availability of hand sanitizer at dedicated stations and at registration areas. Hard surfaces will be cleaned with hospital-grade cleaners with special attention to doorways and doorknobs, counters, elevators and elevator buttons, floor-by-floor handrails and escalator handrails.
7. All staff will observe social distancing of at least 6 feet.
8. Our restaurant partner Levy is making plans for their responsible return to DMC but for the time being there will be no food service and Starbucks will not be open. Food deliveries are allowed but you must meet the provider near an entrance.
9. We will not be offering valet for the time being.

1. Medical masks or cloth face coverings are strongly recommended.
2. Anyone who has been in contact with anyone ill in the last 14 days, who is feeling ill themselves, or who has symptoms outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services should not enter showrooms. Details here: http://tiny.cc/0ixenz.
3. Social distancing guidelines will be strictly enforced including the following:
   1. No gatherings in hallways or common areas;
   2. Observe a six-foot distance between yourself and others, even inside showrooms;
   3. Respect social distancing in restrooms;
   4. Wash hands frequently and/or use hand sanitizer supplied at stations through the marketplace;
   5. Elevators are limited to a maximum of two people at a time;
   6. Escalators should be used with 3 escalator steps between each person.
4. Showrooms have been encouraged to have hand sanitizer visible and functional; and to wipe down all surfaces with antibacterial cleaner regularly.

On March 25, the Federal government announced a $2 trillion economic stimulus program including $349 billion dollars in the form of emergency loans for small businesses.

A helpful overview of the entire CARES Act program that is updated regularly is available here courtesy of the non-partisan Tax Foundation. https://taxfoundation.org/coronavirus-tax-tracker-covid19/

The Small Business Administration is administering the program. Their website devoted to COVID-19 support. https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources. Their page specifically devoted to relief. https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is an SBA loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed and can cover expenses. SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. Details here. https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp

Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) are also available to small businesses to help alleviate economic injury caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) The EIDL Program details. https://www.sba.gov/disaster-assistance/coronavirus-covid-19

Many Dallas Market Center showrooms have products in-stock and ready-to-ship including gift, home, lighting, fashion, holiday and more. Check out the latest list here. http://dallasmarketcenter.com/products-in-stock

Many private companies are offering significant support programs for small businesses. Below are just a few.

Facebook Assistance Program: Facebook knows that a little financial support can go a long way, so they are offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits to help during this challenging time. https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants

Google Assistance Program: Google wants to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to stay in touch with customers during this challenging time. So they're giving our SMBs worldwide $340 million in ad credits, which can be used at any point until the end of 2020 across Google Ads platforms. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9803410

Zoom Basic Plan: Host up to 100 participants in a meeting and hold unlimited one-on-one meetings with the video-conference provider’s complimentary plan. This does provide a 40-minute limit on group meetings, though you’re not limited to the number of meetings. https://zoom.us/pricing

Mark Cuban Companies. Mark announced that he’s reimbursing his employees who buy lunch or coffee/tea from a small, local, independent company. What a great idea! https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1238867894756429824

The National Retail Federation has set up a site for information and support including guidance on the CARES Act: https://nrf.com/resources/retail-safety-and-security-tools/coronavirus-resources-retailers

Faire’s financial impact calculator helps assess the financial status of your business and offers recommended actions you can take to help your business make it through this crisis. https://www.faire.com/impact-calculator

Show me the money. Refund Retriever is all about helping reduce shipping costs. The platform's real-time technology helps provide businesses with complete logistics visibility and savings through FedEx and UPS invoice auditing, reports and analytics, and contract negotiations. https://www.refundretriever.com/

We love planning tools, and Crystal Media, owned by our friend Crystal Vilkaitis, is offering a free digital 12-month social media planner to help you plan and track social media strategy plus offers video training. To access this free tool: https://www.crystalmediaco.com/social-media-planner-digital/.

We’ve hand-picked some of the most important and beneficial business books around. Each link is to purchase directly from one of our favorite independent bookstores, Interabang Books in Dallas.

Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson. Based on hundreds of solid ideas that really work, Levinson's philosophy has given birth to a new way of learning about market share and how to gain it. https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9781933596105

Start With Why by Simon Sinek. The book starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9781591846444

Business Adventures by John Brooks: how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety; notably this is Warren Buffett’s favorite business book. https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9781497644892

The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen: Steve Jobs used this book as an explanation for one reason Apple needed to embrace cloud computing and is frequently associated with both Jobs and Jeff Bezos.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie A classic! Rock-solid, time-tested advice that has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9781633691780

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. Th author delineates the five crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships, work, and even our physical well-being.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. Combines personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can't do to what they can. https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9780553383713

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Of course this classic is on the list. It’s one of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written. https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9781451639612

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown. We loved her TED talk and now we love her book. Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Brown dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage. https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9781592408412

Thrive by Arianna Huffington. A deeply personal book in which Huffington talks candidly about her own challenges with managing time and prioritizing the demands of a career and raising two daughters — of juggling business deadlines and family crises, that led to her collapse and to her "aha moment." https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9780804140867

Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras. Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, the authors took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. https://www.interabangbooks.com/book/9780060516406

The Product Boss (Entrepreneurs) https://www.theproductboss.com/podcast

Boutique Hub’s Boutique Chat (Retail) https://theboutiquehub.com/boutiquechat/

Retail Touchpoints (Retail): https://retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts

Chaise Lounge (Interior Design): https://thechaiseloungepodcast.com/

LuAnn Nigara (Interior Design): https://luannnigara.com/a-well-designed-business/

Building a Storybrand (Marketing): https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1092751338?ls=1&mt=2

How I Built This (Entrepreneurs): https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this

The Indicator from Planet Money (Business): https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510325/the-indicator-from-planet-money

The Gift & Home Trade Association (GHTA) has been hosting extremely useful webinars, now available on demand: https://www.giftandhome.org/ghta-covid-19

Our friends at ART, the creative homefurnishings network, are hosting webinars with special guests. Well worth an ART membership: https://www.accessoriesresourceteam.org/events/

The Dallas Entrepreneurship Center is rocking with their program called Let’s Grow North Texas Business but its resources are available to anyone including tutorials, webinars and more: https://letsgrowntxbusiness.com/

Springboard Futures is a new consumer insights, trends and forecasting company led by Tom Mirabile. They are hosting webinars with smart people leading insightful dialogue: https://springboardfutures.com/

Total Retail brings together leading business minds and retailers for deep insights: https://www.mytotalretail.com/webinars/

Retail Strategies is a consultancy from Birmingham, Alabama helping towns recruit retail companies but their webinar topics are also very helpful: https://www.retailstrategies.com/webinar/