Uncertainty with COVID-19 rules is forcing businesses to rethink reopening
Per a recently issued executive order, bars, restaurants, and other indoor activity venues can open effective January 11. However, while a good number of establishments have rushed to reopen, others are not as enthused, owing to the uncertainty that has surrounded the COVID-19 lockdowns.
According to the news, some business owners are very skeptical as to whether the recent reopening will be long-lived. Additionally, reopening at 50 percent capacity is not financially viable for some business owners.
French Meadow Bakery and Café has decided to hold off until Friday to reopen its St. Paul location off Grand Avenue.
“I quite frankly wished the governor hadn’t opened 50 percent,” owner Lynn Gordon said. “At 50 percent, we lose money. It’s very expensive. And you lose money on produce and everything that you have that’s perishable.”
French Meadow Bakery’s St. Paul location has been hit especially hard. Gordon, who is 72, said she contracted COVID in mid-November, as did Francois Paradeise, the 75-year-old general manager of the St. Paul location.
While the restaurant’s Minneapolis location has been open for takeout during the pandemic, Gordon decided to shut down the St. Paul site entirely just after Thanksgiving.
“Personally, I’d rather we wait until it’s 100 percent seating,” she said, adding she believes another state-mandated shut-down of indoor dining is a possibility. “We feel very jerked around.”
She opened in Minneapolis on Monday, although with lots of skepticism.
“It was like plugging my nose and jumping in with no enthusiasm whatever, with skepticism beyond skepticism,” she said.
Business owners cannot be blamed for being cautious. Since March, when the lockdown orders were first introduced, there has been a whirlwind of rule changes. That is bad for planning and, therefore, bad for business.