FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH
Small business owners reflect on their struggles with doing business in Downtown Lynchburg and how they have been able to stay afloat
Dancing has always been a part of Genette Dahlby’s life. Her parents enrolled her in ballet lessons when she was just six years old, but she says that she wasn’t a fan of the style and decided to stop taking classes. A few years later, she found herself getting involved in hip-hop style routines and eventually joined her youth group’s dance team. It wasn’t until 2010, a few years after she moved to Lynchburg to attend Liberty University, that Dahlby discovered the world of salsa dancing. Though she had never done partner dancing before, she was intrigued to learn a new style.
After attending a few dance gatherings through Lynchburg Salsa, Dahlby says she fell in love with the style and eventually became an instructor for the organization. It was here that she met her husband, Abram, and they formed a lifelong partnership both on and off the dance floor.
“We’ve always had dance throughout our entire relationship,” Dahlby said. “It’s just been really fun to watch the interest of dance grow into something more.”
In 2017, the couple took ownership of Lynchburg Salsa, marking the start of their new chapter as business owners in Lynchburg. In addition to Lynchburg Salsa, Dahlby also runs her own dance lesson service, Genette Dahlby Weddings and Dance, which she has been doing since late 2016. After seeing the success of both her businesses, Dahlby and her husband had the idea to open up a dance hall to bring a new piece of nightlife and fun to downtown.
Dahlby applied to the first year of the Downtown Lynchburg Association’s Launch LYH program and was announced as a grant recipient in 2023. In May 2024, the business officially opened its doors.
Genette Dahlby announced as a 2023 Launch LYH winner. Photo via the Downtown Lynchburg Association
Genette Dahlby announced as a 2023 Launch LYH winner. Photo via the Downtown Lynchburg Association
"We lost community interest"
Dahlby described the beginning of Easy Speak Dance Hall as “exciting” and said that the initial response from the community was more than she anticipated it to be. The venue would host nights of dance throughout the week, with each night featuring a different style. Instructors from the community were also brought in to help teach visitors various styles of dance, from line dancing to ballroom dancing.
The space was also rented out for private events that Dahlby says provided the business with additional revenue and made it multidimensional.
“We had a really nice response of people coming in,” said Dahlby, who says that the dance community was very supportive of her new business venture, given her history with Lynchburg Salsa. “We wanted to make it an all-inclusive environment when people come in and dance.”
But after only a few months, Dahlby says she began to notice a decline in locals attending their events. By the end of 2024, Dahlby and her husband began discussing the business's future.
“We lost community interest. We started to see a decline in people coming out and wanting to dance and learn something
But after their numbers continued to decline after the start of the new year, Dahlby decided to pull the plug.
She closed her business on Jan. 31, 2025, less than one year after opening.
A Blessing In Disguise
When Dahlby closed Easy Speak Dance Hall at the beginning of the year, she decided to focus on the positive aspects of the closure. She had a newborn at the time and was excited to spend more time at home with her family. Instead of letting the closure define her, she decided to go back to the basics of business ownership and invest more time in her two existing businesses. She says that reflecting on her journey through Easy Speak has reminded her that she is capable of doing more.
“Knowing that I can do bigger is something that I can take back with me as well. I would have never been able to say that before.”
For now, Dahlby is focused on meeting her customers’ needs, whether they need private dance lessons for a wedding or want to dance socially to escape the stresses of life. Regardless, she expressed gratitude for the experience of launching her own business in a city she believes in.
Far From Unexpected
Though Easy Speak Dance Hall did not survive its first year, Dahlby’s situation is not the outlier. Across the country, small businesses are struggling and at risk of closure. According to data released in 2024 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), around 1 in 5 businesses close within their first year of opening. While reasons for business closures vary, a 2019 Stanford University study found that 42 percent of businesses cite a lack of market need as the top reason for closing.
In Virginia alone, 113,109 small businesses have closed between 2022 and 2025, according to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. But considering that 134,171 small businesses have also opened in the state during this same period, closures are often viewed as an afterthought.
Virginia ranks among the top states for small business survival, with 56.5 percent of small businesses that opened in 2018 still open in 2023. At the same time, this data indicates that nearly half of all small businesses close within the first five years; Virginia’s survival rate is still almost five points higher than the national average of 51.6 percent.
Struggles Across Downtown
Across Downtown Lynchburg, other businesses have also shared their struggles with trying to keep their small businesses afloat.
Tarsha Joyner, known better around the community as Mrs. Joy, is the owner of Mrs. Joy’s Absolutely Fabulous Treats, located at 1008 Commerce St. A Lynchburg native for 30 years, she’s owned and operated her business since 2012 and has had a downtown storefront since 2016. Despite having no baking experience before opening her business, Joyner has become one of the city's best-known business owners and has made multiple appearances on the Food Network show “Project Bakeover.”
As one of the longer-tenured businesses in downtown, Joyner has a unique perspective on downtown's revitalization. She says that it has been challenging to generate additional revenue for her business in recent years due to ongoing construction and parking issues, which have led to less foot traffic downtown. According to Joyner, her sales are down 30 percent from 2024 and 38 percent from 2023. While she usually sees an uptick in business around the holidays, this year’s season has gotten off to a slower-than-anticipated start.
“Business has dropped off so sharply due to the ongoing construction and perceived parking problems,” said Joyner, who added that she anticipated some decline in business because of the projects, but had no idea the effects would be so damaging. “I knew at some point that it [construction] was going to be a problem for me…and it became one.”
Joyner shared that if the downward trajectory continues, she may find herself reconsidering the future of her business sooner than later.
“I’m only a few weeks away from being closed myself,” said Joyner, who added she’s put far too much effort into the success of her business to give up now. “We don’t just feed bellies. We feed souls.”
As Lynchburg’s revitalization continues, some of the city’s cornerstone businesses have already ceased operations. Earlier this summer, RA Bistro, which had been in business for over 16 years, announced its closure. Just last month, The White Hart Cafe, which has been in business for almost a decade and was well-known as ‘Lynchburg’s Living Room,’ announced that it would close its doors at the end of 2025. While none of the businesses have explicitly stated that city issues such as parking or construction are to blame, their closures have sparked conversations about the fragility of small businesses downtown.
The Way Forward: “Collaboration Not Cooperation”
White Hart Cafe owner Myke Barron, who acquired the business in February 2020, says that despite the numerous challenges the business has faced over the years – including road closures, water cutoffs, and the coronavirus pandemic – it has been able to thrive. While he acknowledged that the challenges the business faced, most notably road closures on Main Street that blocked off portions of the road for nearly 10 months, certainly did not help the business grow, they did not contribute to the closure.
Instead, Barron noted that differing visions within the business partnership have necessitated realignment. While he hates to see the business go, Barron says he is proud to have been a part of downtown’s development over the past six years.
“It’s good for downtown to thrive, and I’ve been honored to be even a small part of it,” Barron said.
As for what the city can do to help propel small businesses forward, Barron said that the movement must start from the ground up. He praised both the City of Lynchburg and the DLA for their commitment to the city’s growth, but said that turnover and changes in leadership can lead to loss of momentum if the public is not fully invested in downtown’s revitalization. Barron advocated for greater collaboration among private citizens, which he says can produce both short- and long-term benefits for downtown.
“When we cooperate, we appease each other…But when you collaborate, you co-labor. You’re working together to produce something,” Barron said.
At the city level, the Lynchburg City Council has come under scrutiny in the past year for a lack of unity and professionalism among some members. Joyner says that small businesses are often viewed as an afterthought by the council, who focus on enticing larger corporations to do business in the city rather than supporting small businesses.
“I think that they [city council] care about bringing big business to Lynchburg, but I don’t think they care about bringing small business to Lynchburg, which they should,” Joyner shared.
Given the current divide within the city council, business owners across downtown are left feeling uncertain about the city’s growth. While many of them believe in the city's potential, they are concerned about the council's future actions.
UP NEXT
PART FOUR
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE GAVEL
How the ongoing divide within Lynchburg’s City Council is casting fear and uncertainty for downtown’s future.
How We Reported This Story
Jacob Clavijo met with 12 business owners across Downtown Lynchburg, including 10 Launch LYH winners, to discuss their experiences as small-business owners in the city. He also spoke with multiple people involved in coordinating Launch LYH, including members of the Virginia Small Business Development Center and the Downtown Lynchburg Association.
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