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Let's be positive. Open Up & mingle.
Some people I know in Florida are frightened and won’t go to a restaurant for a long time.
I’m not advocating for it, but if there’s not another $1,200 check and $500 for kids this month, I don’t see the economy bouncing back quickly.
Margaritaville had to lay off around 150 people because of the shutdown. Chagnon didn’t have to make the calls to the employees, but she did add that the employees were happy to be back at work."
But while restaurants could do curbside service, retail stores were closed completely. One of them was Columbia, a retail store that sells products that gear more to the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.
“We’ve had decent traffic, but not normal May traffic,” said Josh Wackstein, owner of Columbia. “Everybody has been excited to get a sense of normalcy.”
Even though Columbia has been closed, it hasbeen paying their employees during the shutdown, Wackstein said. He didn’t want his employees to feel the financial affects of the pandemic.
Columbia tried to do a curbside opening on Friday that didn’t go as well as Wackstein wanted, but people were driving by and happy to see them open.
“I was getting phone calls that they (customers) missed out on getting clothes for their kids birthday this year,” Wackstein said. “They told me they would be back next year.”
While it seems like everyone is out enjoying the weather, beaches, and stores reopening, some were against the reopening. Maggie Hut, who works for Hook and Tackle of Panama City Beach, FL, was against the reopening.
“I think it’s a little too early to reopen and I enjoyed my vacation,” Hut said. “A lot of people don’t care about the virus going around. Most will be fine, but they should still care.”