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BUSINESS IMPACT OF THE QUAKE : Rush to Reopen : For Small Firms Operating on Thin Margins, Time Lost Hurts the Most

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Paul Paige was the kind of entrepreneur who helped San Francisco rebuild in 1906. Seeing in the earthquake a golden opportunity, he opened a glass company to supply new windows and mirrors to a disaster-stricken citizenry.

On Thursday, in the aftermath of the quake of 1989, his grandson Ken Paige was busily fielding customers’ calls as workers literally picked up the pieces at Paige Glass Co.

“It was the domino effect,” Paige said, describing how cartons full of plate glass tumbled to the concrete floor. “We spent all of yesterday shoveling out.”

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All told, Paige figured, about $50,000 in uninsured inventory came crashing down in the company’s old brick storefront on Mission Street in downtown San Francisco. The shards filled three dumpsters.

But the good news was that new inventory had arrived and business was booming. “If we work real hard, we could wind up even,” Paige said with a shrug.

After a day of digging out from disasters big and small, thus did Paige and thousands of other merchants, dry cleaners, clothing makers and bakers get back down to business Thursday.

These are the service providers who are the lifeblood of this city. And, in many cases, these are the ones whose aging storefronts and upstairs offices were bruised far more badly than the shining steel and glass corporate towers built to withstand the shaking.

For most, their small-margin businesses, too, provide little leeway when it comes to coping with the disruptions and costs associated with a disaster of this magnitude.

At Weinstock’s House of Dishes, the distraught, perspiring owner was too busy restocking his shelves with china, gifts and glassware to chat. “All the store is upside down,” he said as he ripped open cartons of newly delivered goods. “No insurance. No time even to buy cigarettes to smoke.”

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JoAnn Lam, owner of Excelon Garment Factory on the second floor of a seriously damaged office building, pointed to where part of the plaster ceiling had fallen onto a sewing machine, narrowly missing an elderly seamstress.

“I turned on the electricity yesterday, but nobody wanted to work because they were still scared,” said Lam, whose small company provides clothing to chains such as Mervyn’s and K mart. “Today, three ladies wanted to stay home.”

Lam was not sure how much the delay was costing, “but I know I lose. If I don’t finish (jobs) on time, I will lose business.”

On the floor above hers, bookseller John Durham of Bolerium Books was restocking hundreds of tomes that came tumbling down in the quake, despite the 2-by-4 struts that had earlier been installed to keep the bookcases from shifting.

“The biggest thing for small businesses will be that they’ll be out of business for a couple of weeks,” said Durham, whose company specializes in rare and out-of-print books. “We’ll be a week off schedule. We canceled going to a book fair that probably would have been worth $1,500 in business.”

Despite it all, many Mission Street merchants expressed relief that their part of town was spared the hardship of the Marina and other districts. And customers were strolling the street again.

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“We’re really poised to help,” said Ken Paige, the glass purveyor. “We’ll lick our wounds later.”

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