Local businesses weather the storm of COVID-19
Photo courtesy of Grit & Grace Market.
In the wake of the ongoing pandemic, millions of small businesses across the nation are suffering due to coronavirus restrictions. Among them, local businesses in Bradley County are learning how to cope with the new normal.
On March 22, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Executive Order 17, calling for businesses across the state to limit as many in-person interactions as possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has created both an economic and a health crisis, and our response must continue to address both aspects,” said Gov. Lee regarding the order. “Our goal is to keep the public, especially vulnerable populations, safe while doing everything possible to keep Tennesseans in a financially stable position.”
This order prohibited gatherings of 10 or more people. Food and drink establishments were required to only offer drive-thru, take-out or delivery options. These measures, combined with the social-distancing guidelines released by the CDC, proved to be a challenge for small businesses everywhere.
To accommodate these guidelines, Ocoee Coffee Company has offered alternative ways of carrying on business throughout this time of quarantine, including drive-thru, delivery services and selling online merchandise.
“I don’t think anyone can really have much of an expectation in times like this because none of us has ever gone through this,” said Hayley Costello, manager at Ocoee Coffee Company. “It’s definitely been slower than we’d like, but given the circumstances, we’re definitely grateful and even a little bit pleasantly surprised.”
For retail stores, the guidelines look different. The order urges that businesses take extra measures to protect the vulnerable population. Grit & Grace Market, an artisanal shopping experience in Cleveland, had to find different approaches for their recently opened business, such as flash sales on Facebook Live.
“We only got six or seven good weeks of sale before we had to stop everything we were doing,” said Brandon Miles, who founded Grit & Grace Market with his wife Melody. “We kind of pivoted to an online shopping model. I am hopeful, and I think we’ve come out of this stronger because of what we’ve done during the downtime. Because we’re so new, we still have a lot of excitement for the store.”
On April 24, Gov. Lee issued guidelines for restaurants and retail stores to start reopening next week in 89 counties, including Bradley County.
“Tennesseans pulled together to flatten the curve, and it is time for people to begin to get back to work and back to their businesses,” Gov. Lee said. “We are pursuing a careful, measured approach to reopening our economy that does not depend on heavy-handed mandates but instead provides practical tools for businesses of all sizes.”
Ocoee Coffee Company recently reopened on April 27 for dine-in, utilizing their nine separate seating areas for customers to practice social distancing.
Grit & Grace Market is scheduled to reopen on Friday, May 1. They will still offer pickup and online services to encourage safe and healthy social distancing.
