While many large grocery chains around the Bay Area struggle to keep shelves stocked and enforce social distancing requirements in an effort to stave off the coronavirus pandemic, neighborhood corner stores have become more vital than ever.

Despite the shelter-in-place mandates that have canceled events and closed schools and offices throughout Northern California, smaller markets remain open as essential services because people still need food.

That has provided a boon for many of the mom-and-pop shops in San Francisco and beyond, but also brought up some unforeseen challenges for the people who run them, from keeping enough inventory on hand to mitigating the risks associated with the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

“Ever since the announcement of the shelter in place, I would say business has gone up twofold,” said Philippe Newman, an employee at Park Presidio Liquors at California and Sixth streets in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond neighborhood.

Although the small corner store’s shelves remain well stocked with pantry essentials such as canned soups, baking ingredients, alcohol, pasta and bread, Newman said it isn’t easy keeping up with the surging demand as people opt to stay close to home rather than risk infection by venturing into packed chain stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

Ron “Nani” Friedman, the owner of Park Presidio Liquors, makes up to three trips a day to the store’s supply warehouses to keep the store from running out of in-demand products.

“I think what we’re seeing here is a situation where people are doing their full assortment of grocery shopping in the corner store,” Newman said.

In San Francisco alone, there are approximately 1,000 independently owned neighborhood convenience stores, or bodegas, according to a survey by Healthy Retail SF.

Though many of them are thriving as essential lifelines to their local communities during the crisis, the owners are facing a new list of concerns of their own.

“Even before the shelter-in-place order, things were getting very slow and quiet on the streets, which is not good for business,” said Miriam Zouzounis, whose family operates Ted’s Market & Deli on Howard Street in SoMa. The store is part of the large network of the Bay Area’s s community of predominantly immigrant or child of immigrant-owned small businesses.

“Our business almost got robbed one night because it was so quiet,” she said.

As a result, Zouzounis said the market has reduced business hours to avoid working nights. The store’s typically robust catering orders have been canceled, which means a lot of leftover inventory — a double blow to the family-run operation.

The family has had to reorganize other aspects of the way it does business on the fly, from figuring out how to cover sick leave for employees and making enough money to cover rent, to exploring ways of getting fresh fruits and vegetables directly from wholesale producers and setting up a viable delivery service for their customers.

“We didn’t previously have delivery options because we have a loyal lunch base,” she said. “At this point, it’s a necessity.”

Then there are the safety concerns that extend beyond the risk of getting held up.

As places where hundreds of people pass through every day, exchanging money for goods and touching surfaces, contact becomes all but inevitable despite the repeated calls for social distancing.

Corner stores are taking several safety precautions, such as making hand sanitizer available at the checkout, frequently wiping down surfaces, offering rubber gloves to shoppers who are considered high-risk and asking customers to give each other plenty of room to maneuver through the stores, even in tight quarters.

“I’m pretty assiduous with the handwashing,” Newman said. “Anytime you handle money, you have to be. Regardless of an oncoming pandemic, I wash my hands about 15 times a day.”

For Zouzounis, the bigger concern is seeing employees go to the wholesale market every morning to replenish the store’s stock because independently owned stores don’t have the bulk buying power of big-box retailers like Safeway and Walgreens.

In the midst of these adjustments, there has also been some unexpected competition.

Many Bay Area restaurants and bars that have been forced to close their doors now have permission to sell off their inventory, including alcohol — often with delivery and curbside pickup options.

But, often, loyalty wins out.

At Upper Terrace Market, which has served the Twin Peaks neighborhood since 1951, owner Sam Awwad said his customers have been extra appreciative of his efforts to keep the store open and stocked, and he is doing his best to reciprocate.

“We carry everything,” he said. “If we don’t have something they want, I will order it for them.”

Zouzounis is hoping the city comes up with a way to throw a lifeline to these small businesses so they can survive beyond the immediate crisis while giving their neighbors some sense of routine.

“We need to support our workers,” she said. “Everybody is relying on them.”

Aidin Vaziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF