Partial government shutdown impacting Bay Area businesses

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The partial federal government shutdown is in day 12 with no end in sight. Aside from federal workers, mom and pop shops are feeling the impact.

For City Cup cafe located right across from the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in downtown Oakland, it has not been business as usual.

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"Very badly, and it's going down, more and more," said owner Sam Samhouri.

Samhouri relies on federal workers to keep his business running. Many of his breakfast and lunch hour customers have been furloughed by the partial government shutdown. As a result, he says business is down nearly 60 percent.

"Open the government because we're still surviving out of it. People live out of it," added Samhouri.

During the shutdown, Samhouri has had to close down early and cut employee hours.

Normally, the pastries are all gone by mid-afternoon, not the case anymore.

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"It's like a ghost town," said frequent customer Anthony Howard. "Usually, you can smell the food cooking, and there's a line and people are waiting to get their food, or get their coffee."

There's another consequence of the shutdown-- your taxes.

As we enter tax season, don't think you can put off filing your taxes if the government gridlock continues.

"The biggest concern is where's my refund, and when am I going to get it," said Robin Swarn, franchise owner of Jackson Hewitt Tax Services in the East Bay.

The tax preparer has been busy filing tax returns, but they advise getting your refund could be delayed this year.

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"If there's not enough people to process them, it's going to take even longer," said Swarn.

That of course, is a worst-case scenario. Tax experts say your refund could be delayed if the shutdown extends through mid-January.

Find more stories on the government shutdown.