Businesses in this community have been navigating the path of reopening amidst the ever-changing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control.
When asked about how the initial shutdown in March 2020 affected the business, each business faced similar trials.
“We were closed for a while because the previous owner passed away from non-COVID-related reasons, and so we were closed down for a while kind of right in the middle of the pandemic,” said Paul Schotzco, a co-owner of Six String Place, which is a guitar store that offers lessons and repairs “We had been closed down for a couple of months and we re-opened in October … One of the other owners teaches guitar lessons here, and he was here kind of taking some students on the side, until we had to restructure the business due to supply chain issues, which has been the biggest problem.”
Other businesses that were just starting up faced unusual trials as well.
“When we first bought the building two months before the initial shutdown, we were planning on fixing it up and selling it and then we thought about a coffee shop, and then finally settled on a bookstore,” said Michael McKenzie, owner of Barrett’s Books. “We did a soft opening and I think being open now, with the only bookstore in quite a radius, I think people are just happy to have somewhere to go.”
COVID precautions
Since the mask mandate was lifted on June 22, 2021, business owners leave it up to customers to mask.
“We just kind of let people decide on their own, “said Will Long, owner of the Studio Shop, “that’s probably one of the reasons for our success as we don’t really get political at all, so we let people make their own decisions.”
“It was a challenge at first, with all the CDC guidelines, social distancing and the mask wearing and all of that, once we got all that figured out, then students started coming back … Music is one of those things that people are going to do, you know?” said Schotzco “I mean it’s hard when you’re doing a face-to-face sort of lesson with someone, but just being really cautious about making sure people know to let us know if they have been sick or anything like that.”
Supporting small businesses
Some small businesses have had success even with the pandemic as people began to realize the importance of supporting small businesses in the community.
“It has let us become more self-reliant,” said Long, “everybody has become more focused on shopping small, so we’re actually a little bit busier than we were.”
The pandemic gave some business owners a new outlook.
“It made me take a step back and retrospect a little bit, and I think like with most people it made me more appreciative and grateful for what I had,” said McKenzie, “It was actually kind of inspiring in a way … to overcome any resistance I had to open the business to give other people hope.”