Planet Hair, SPYN Cycle Studio, Sweet Tomatoes Latest COVID Casualties

The social media posts left in the wake of COVID-19 are gut-wrenching.

It was the best of times for many of these businesses leading up to the pandemic. To say it was the worst of times since is an understatement.

Lifelong dreams of building up a business, the American dream, literally vanished in a matter of weeks. Some of these establishments were more established than others. They’ve all now established themselves on a list that keeps growing as the hours, days, and weeks drag on.

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Planet Hair

According to its website, Planet Hair was locally owned by husband and wife, Roy and Marlena Silva. Their salon was centered in the Shops at River Park on the corner between Macy’s and Edwards Cinema. But, after 15 years of taking care of others, the pandemic shut the salon down.

The owners made the closure permanent in a Friday Facebook post.

Mary Molina responded, “So so very sorry this is happening ☹️ My son just loved working there. We’re pretty sad for y’all ☹️ God bless!!”

SPYN Cycle Studio

Open less than a year at the corner of First Street and Herndon Avenue, SPYN Cycle Studio closed its doors for good in early May.

The business billed itself as “Fresno’s only premier indoor cycle studio. Certified Instructors, the most advanced bikes, a modern environment. Are you ready to SPYN it?”

A post on the SPYN Cycle website leaves no doubt as to what happened: “As a new business, any disruption in normal day to day operations can be a great loss, however the incredible circumstances of the last couple months have been catastrophic to SPYN.”

View this post on Instagram

Can you recall our opening in early September 2019? I can. I was super nervous if I would be able to create a community of like-minded people that would all come together in support of each other’s goals and ambitions without judgment and prejudice. It certainly didn’t happen over-night or without the help of others – some who we flew in from around the world to work with our amazing coaches – shout out to Noel, Javier, and Lisa for making the trip to FresYes! I believe whole heartily that in the months prior to COVID-19 it was evident that TOGETHER all of us, coaches, staff, and members, had created something extraordinary. I could not be more proud of what we accomplished and don’t regret a thing. If a year ago anyone had told us that a pandemic would sweep the world and cause the shut down of restaurants, gyms, and businesses – that the NCAA tournament would be canceled that the Olympics would be postponed, we would have laughed and called them crazy. Yet all that happened and so here we are. As a new business, any disruption in normal day to day operations can be a great loss, however, the incredible circumstances of the last couple months have been catastrophic to SPYN. We hadn't been open long enough to be profitable yet and certainly didn’t have time to save reserve funds for an event like this. Months ago, I think most of us thought this was a 2-week closing, max. I was fully committed to reopening as soon as we could. Since then, a lot of time has gone by, and a lot has changed – in our community, in this industry, and in the world. This was not an easy decision to make, but a necessary one. Thank you to my coaches, you truly are an amazing group of men and women. Never have I seen such dedication to a craft or art. Thank you to my staff – in a day and age that people love to complain, you didn’t get one bad review – an amazing accomplishment. To my customers, thank you for your love and support. Thank you for trusting us with your health, goals and dreams. Don’t forget to always dig deep in all that you do… when you find your fire, everything is possible. JF

A post shared by SPYN Cycle Studio (@spyn.cycle) on May 8, 2020 at 7:25pm PDT

Sweet Tomatoes

“To our valued guests,” is being written by many business owners during the pandemic.

It’s now at the top of the Sweet Tomatoes (Fresno North) Instagram page.

The post begins with a simple, “We will miss you.”

On Facebook, customer Jandi Procko responded, “So sad … We have been enjoying your goodness for over 20 years … One of my dad’s favorites when he was still here … And my Kids grew up loving your food choices … It still is their absolute favorite place… We have many memories here and will miss you! Best of luck to you and your wonderful staff … Always hopeful for a comeback
Love
Your loyal customers!”

View this post on Instagram

We will miss you.

A post shared by Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes (@souplantation) on May 8, 2020 at 2:13pm PDT

Full Circle Olympic — Tower District

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that effective May 1, 2020 Full Circle has decided to permanently close our Full Circle Olympic location in the Tower District. Like many small businesses, we have struggled with a significant loss of revenue during this unprecedented time,” the business writes on Facebook.

Full Circle says it will consolidate resources to the downtown Fresno brewery. All affected employees will be retained at the downtown location.

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Tower District Starbucks

According to KSEE/KGPE, the Starbucks in Fresno’s Tower District is closed permanently.

Starbucks, in a statement to the station, says it determined that it was best to shut the store. The employees were transferred to nearby locations.

Starbucks says it has no plans to close other local stores.