During the lockdown, every day is Big Business Saturday

Salons and barbers shops are still prohibited from opening up for customer haircuts but are being allowed to sell products as long they adhere to the curbside and delivery rules.

While the changes are welcome news for some businesses, some owners tell us the changes do little to help them make it through the pandemic. For the Waconia Barber Shop, the ability to sell products does little to help them.

“Being a barbershop, maybe just comparing a  barbershop to a salon,” explained Josh Kirkpatrick. “Men don’t buy a ton of products. I have some, beard care stuff, shampoo, stuff like that but that’s not, that’s definitely not what drives my business.”

Kirkpatrick understands the governor is trying to keep people safe. But watching some stores do big business while he is forced to stay closed is frustrating.

“You walk into a grocery store or Target or Walmart, you’ll come in contact with far more people in a few minutes than I will see throughout a day here,” he said.

Kirkpatrick says he’s good on guidelines like sanitizing, social distancing, and masks. Same for Dawn Grohs, the owner of Mainstream Boutique in Chanhassen. She says she too is good to go and just needs the go-ahead.

“We wipe down everything, we’re ready to roll,” she said. “Actually, we’re getting masks tomorrow made by a local lady in St. Paul so we’ll have masks if people need them or they can buy them so we’ll be ready.”

…

Stevens, who operates 25 salons in the Twin Cities area, is still paying $80,000 a month in rent in addition to business loans and health benefits for his staff.

“It’s amazing how many costs you have even when your business is closed,” Stevens said.

The Star Tribune reported that Great Clips co-owner Brian Stevens:

…had worked with other salon owners to reach out to Gov. Tim Walz’s office to make their case for reopening salons and with the Minnesota Board of Cosmetology to come up with ideas on an industry plan.

“Every day [the order] goes on, it becomes less viable to open these salons,” Stevens said.

The Board of Cosmetology, despite overseeing an industry which has been shutdown, has not been furloughed. One wonders what it is doing these days.

Bars and restaurants, already hard hit, also saw little help from the extension. Gov. Walz:

“…didn’t tell me what are the health guidelines, or the conditions under which we could open on the 18th, or what would prevent us from opening,” said Mike Mulrooney, owner of Blarney Pub & Grill in Dinkytown and downtown Minneapolis’ Pog Mahone’s.

“I get that he doesn’t want a hard date out there. But we need that,” he said. “It takes about a week to order food and supplies, and our distributors will need to know.”

With Blarney shuttered and Pog Mahone’s offering only takeout, Mulrooney laid off all but two of his 69 workers in March.

He told Neal St. Anthony of the Star Tribune:

“We’ve lost $500,000 to $700,000 in revenue between the two businesses,” Mulrooney said. “And if school at the University of Minnesota is canceled in the fall, that will end small business in Dinkytown.

The stories keep coming. Kay Frandsen, owner of Wabi Sabi Shop furniture consignment store in Wayzata:

“I’d like to know if I can start letting my customers know that I will be open on May 18, but will the governor come back on May 14 and say there is further delay?”

Independent coffee shops are suffering:

Rick Boraas — CEO of Roastery 7, which delivers roasted coffee beans to independent shops across the region, including Royal Grounds — estimates that only about 10 of the company’s 165 customers have remained open during the pandemic.

“Nobody is making it financially,” Boraas says.

Last week, I wrote that Minnesota’s businesses are suffering from a lack of certainty. I cited research which finds “that about 60 percent of the forecasted output contraction reflects a negative effect of COVID-induced uncertainty.” These are the stories behind that.

There are steps Gov. Walz can take to reduce this uncertainty and its associated costs. As I said last week, ” the Coronavirus does not operate to a calendar. But our state government can make a move towards a measure of certainty by setting out benchmarks.” And he should stick to them. If he doesn’t, Small Business Saturday will have a pretty hollow ring this November.