GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Restaurant and bar owners are wondering how their businesses are going to stay afloat after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all dine-in services to be halted statewide beginning Monday to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Carryout and delivery services will stay in service under the executive order. Only five people are allowed in the restaurant at a time and must stand at least six feet away from each other.
“We’re having to do as much as we can with less at this point just to get through this,” said Max Trierweiler, co-owner of Mitten Brewing Company.
Trierweiler said they moved up their release day for their most popular beer, Peanuts and Cracker Jacks, to Monday. It was set to release coinciding with the opening day of baseball season, which is also postponed.
“We wanted people to have the option to come out and get it while sitting at their homes and enjoy some Peanuts and Cracker Jack and not push back the release," said Trierweiler.
However, he is still concerned about his staff. As businesses make less money overall, the uncertainty of the future is unnerving. Last week, he said sales were down directly because of coronavirus, and the industry is taking a huge hit.
“We’re still kind of figuring that out ourselves,” said Trierweiler. “We’re going to do whatever we can. We can’t afford to pay our staff what they normally would get paid if we’re not making the same amount of money. So, we’re waiting for the official word from the state and federal government as to what subsidies and dollars we can get to help pay our employees.”
Throughout Grand Rapids, many restaurants had signs on their doors, indicating take out only, or that they are closed.
Meanwhile, the Pit Stop, a take out style business, is preparing for an influx of sales.
“We want to be able to show restaurants can be open; they can be safe, they can be very good to go into and people don’t have to worry about it," said Pit Stop owner Matt Smith.
St. Patrick’s Day is their busiest day of the year. They have prepared nearly 1,000 pounds of corned beef. They are planning to stay open Tuesday, St. Patric's Day, with some changes.
- They are only open for three hours on March 17.
- Only two customers will be allowed in the store at a time.
- There will be a tape measure to measure out 6 feet between customers in a line.
- Countertops will be cleaned every 15 minutes with a bleach solution.
- Picnic tables are off-limits, and customers cannot linger in the building.
“If the local places can’t stay open, there are tons of families that are going to get hurt all over the community," Smith said.
Smith said to continue to support small, locally-owned businesses throughout the duration of Whitmer's ban on food industry services. He’s concerned about the long-term effects on the economy if they are forgotten.
“It’s good to go in places like us to get gift certificates or growlers filed at bars or things like that,” said Smith. “You have to keep us open because if you don’t have the local places, you just have the giant chains and they take over the world.”
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