Local businesses eager, but cautious to restart

As the first phase of the state’s plan to reopen some sectors of the economy rolls out in the wake of the coronavirus restrictions, some local business owners are eager to get back to business, while others worry about their capacity to safely invite customers back into their establishments.

Gov. Steve Bullock’s plan allows bars and restaurants to begin to reopen on May 4 with social distancing measures in place. “Main street” retail shops can start operating on Monday, April 27. The city of Whitefish’s emergency ordinance against accepting reservations for lodging in Whitefish remains in place until at least May 10.

Many local entrepreneurs said the go-ahead to reopen can’t come soon enough.

“I was hoping it would be a week sooner,” said Shawnna Steele, the owner of the Desoto Grill in Kalispell.

Steele wasn’t optimistic that easing these restrictions would totally revive her restaurant after the unprecedented shutdown, but she is nonetheless looking forward to business picking up again.

The Desoto Grill lately has been limited to takeout orders on Fridays only. Steele said this was the only way they could make it through the extreme circumstances. “I think we made the right decision,” she said. “Otherwise we would’ve lost a lot of money and we couldn’t maintain the quality of our food.”

So even though the eatery will be allowed to reopen with a limited number of patrons and spaced-out seating, Steele believes this is an improvement from the current limited operations.

“We’re excited to be open,” Steele said, even though she expects the restaurant to continue to face challenges from coronavirus, like hiring back employees who have been receiving unemployment benefits and confronting a shortage of tourists.

“It’s going to be a rough summer,” Steele predicted. “It’s hard for a lot of small businesses.”

She feels the team at the Desoto Grill has the experience to weather the storm, but she is concerned about how others will fare.

“Places that are younger, that just refinanced or expanded…I’m worried. It’s going to be so hard on them,” she said.

Getting back to business is far from the only concern small business owners expect to face in the coming weeks. Tony Tran, the owner of Blue Samurai in Kalispell, expressed doubt about most restaurants’ ability to fully comply with social distancing guidelines.

“I don’t know if all the business owners are ready for it yet,” Tran said. At Blue Samurai, he is planning a multitude of measures to maintain sanitary conditions, including all disposable utensils for dine-in customers, laminated menus and limited hours for dinner service only.

But he isn’t sure other restaurateurs will have equally strict practices in place, since it’s expensive to buy all of the disposable utensils and challenging to closely enforce six-foot distancing at all times.

Even though Tran reported Blue Samurai has been sustained by a large number of take-out orders and gift card purchases, he stressed the most important thing for business owners right now is safety, rather than turning a profit. “Money you can make any time, any day, but lives you cannot bring back,” he pointed out.

WHILE OTHER area business owners agreed with Tran’s assessment of the challenges ahead, some are more optimistic about their plans to keep the community safe while still keeping their doors open.

At Moose’s Saloon in Kalispell, Dawson Barela recognized the difficulties inherent in maintaining social distancing in a bar, but, he pointed out, “We’ve been dealing with drunk people for a long time.”

He said Moose’s plans to rearrange their seating to space patrons out, add staff members to monitor social distancing and limit the number of people who can be in the bar at a time. He added he hopes customers are understanding and respectful of these changes, but there is still a lot of uncertainty about what the actual reopening will be like.

Jordan Van Eimeren, the owner of Sacred Waters Brewing Company, shared a similar outlook. She said the popular gathering place will do “whatever it takes” to open up in a safe manner, but she admitted her team is still working out the specifics on the best ways to implement that goal.

Even though she recognizes the challenge ahead of her, she is excited to revive the brewery. For the past few weeks, Sacred Waters has been limited to growler fills and can sales, which started as a necessity from the sudden decline in customers at the brewery.

“It’s been very challenging, to say the least,” she said.

She is grateful to the loyal customers who have continued to make beer purchases, albeit from their cars instead of the bar. “We can’t wait to see them in person and have a beer with them,” Van Eimeren said.

OTHER BUSINESS owners say they are more inclined to wait to reopen their businesses, despite the financial hardships of such extended closures. For a few local businesses, reopening on May 4 seems too early to effectively protect employees and customers.

“I’m going to give it another week or two,” said Nicole James, the owner of Sage & Cedar, a boutique shop with locations in Whitefish and Kalispell. “I just don’t need to hit the ground running.”

Business has been significantly slower lately, but James still feels it would be best for her to remain closed for a few more weeks to avoid getting sick or contributing to the community spread of coronavirus. She expressed concerns about the effectiveness of trying to implement social distancing measures in her stores, and she pointed out she is wary of second-home owners returning from out-of-state without self-quarantining.

When Sage & Cedar does reopen, James said they might start with appointment-only shopping as an added precaution. In her estimation, slowed business is worth to slow down the virus.

Other popular gathering places are taking a mixed approach to reopening. Jessie Farnes, manager of Montana Coffee Traders in downtown Whitefish, confessed Phase One of reopening “happened a little sooner than we were anticipating.”

As a result, Farnes and the MCT team are trying to be “as nimble in our response as is possible.”

They plan on getting started with coffee “pop-ups” on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at their locations in downtown Whitefish, Kalispell and Columbia Falls. These events will provide customers with coffee and a few pastry items, but they will maintain curbside service and the requirement that customers call ahead to place orders.

Then, when restaurants get the go-ahead the week of May 4, MCT anticipates slowly reopening its coffee shops with a more limited menu and social distancing restrictions in place. The U.S. 93 location south of Whitefish will remain closed for the time-being to make sure there are no risks for their roastery, which is located in the same building as the café.

“We’re excited to see our community again,” Farnes noted, but her top priority is making that possible in a safe and responsible way.

She admitted she is somewhat concerned about the reaction from customers who are eager to get back in the habit of sitting in coffeeshops for drinks and meals. She stressed, “We’ll see how it goes and see what community needs from us right now.”

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.