Impact Of COVID-19 Explained - Business & Supply Chain Problems In Alaska | Behind The Hustle E.05

TL;DR

The video profiles Gustavus, Alaska (pop. 400), where the only grocery store owner Lane Parker bought a $200,000 barge to supply the town after the state ferry was cut due to budget issues, exacerbated by COVID-19. It uses this extreme case to illustrate a broader ongoing decline of rural single-grocery-store towns across the U.S., which the pandemic will worsen.

Key insights

• Gustavus had no electricity until 1985 and no cell phones until the mid-1990s; many residents lacked landlines until then.
• A town hall meeting had only five attendees, which was considered a quorum and a “monumental turnout.”
• The town is inaccessible by car; the only ways in are by plane or boat.