As a small business owner, Griffin Moore does not know what to expect from the impact of the novel coronavirus.
“We are either going to be really slow because people don’t want to get out, or we could have a busy four weeks if they want to leave the house and do something without a large crowd,” she said.
Moore, who owns Griffin’s Studio in downtown Hopkinsville, is trying to prepare for both possibilities at her art and gift shop.
In an area at the rear of the store, where customers take pottery and painting classes, large tables have been spread out to accommodate social distancing. There are Lysol wipes on every table, and employees are wiping down everything customers might use, such as paint brushes.
Local public schools will be closed for a month starting Monday, so Moore anticipates she could have students dropping in to paint and make crafts.
But for customers who are not comfortable staying in the store, beginning Tuesday she’ll have art-to-go packages. Each will have all the supplies needed for pottery or canvas painting projects.
Like many people who are self-employed, Moore has to juggle work with her personal life. She has two boys, who will soon be 2 and 4, so she understands the fears associated with the virus.
“I know it is a scary time,” she said Friday afternoon. “I have small kids. I get it.”
She’s hoping people won’t forget about Hopkinsville’s independent businesses during a difficult time.
Lee Ann Naghtin, who owns Herb Hays Furniture and Mattress, one of Hopkinsville’s oldest retailers, is also preparing for the possibility of a slow period.
There are several issues a business like hers will face: what to do when employees have to be out to take care of their children; how to weather a downturn in business; keeping the store clean so customers and employees feel safe; and making a case for local people to support locally owned businesses.
“I feel every unsteady about what’s going to happen,” she said. “But we’ll get through it.”
Naghtin has already restructured the store’s delivery plan — cutting out unnecessary runs to reduce expenses.
Naghtin is also trying to remind people why local business matters. She was out looking for hand sanitizer earlier in the week and came upon an empty shelf in a Hopkinsville store. She heard a woman say she would just go online and order it from Amazon.
“I said, ‘Oh, girl, don’t. Amazon is killing small business.’”
Friday morning at the Corner Coffeehouse downtown, Amanda Huff-McClure noticed a shift in business and in the ways her customers were interacting.
“I got a big rush of business in the morning,” she said. “People wanted to talk about it. This has become a community spot for that.”
As the day wore on, Huff-McClure had more people calling in carry-out orders. She hopes that trend continues if it helps maintain business. And for customers who are not comfortable coming inside, Huff-McClure said she’s happy to walk out to the curb and hand-deliver orders.
Not knowing the long-term impact of the coronavirus outbreak is difficult for business owners like Huff-McClure and her wife, April Huff McClure. They have three children.
“That’s been the most frightening part for me,” she said. “We either make the money to pay our mortgage or we don’t.”
Like Moore, she doesn’t know if people will stay away or if they will want to treat themselves by going out when they get cabin fever. Business owners have to prepare for both scenarios, Huff-McClure said.
She’s trying to reassure customers that they take the risks seriously. She called the Christian County Health Department for information on protecting against the virus. Employees are sanitizing every table when a customer leaves. There’s more attention to all the surfaces people touch.
COVID-19 is an infectious disease. It is caused by a strain of the coronavirus that had not been previously identified in humans.
“There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused be a novel (or new) coronavirus that has not previously been seen in humans,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.
“I think people are taking it much more seriously,” Huff-McClure said. “I had people here who burst into tears. People are trying to decide how to explain it to their children without scaring them.”
One encouraging idea came to Huff-McClure through a social media. Someone suggested that customers who want to support small businesses but are not able to leave home should call and purchase a gift card. The business can hold it for them — and when life is back to normal, it will be there for them to use.
It’s a creative idea that helps small businesses with a cash flow problem many are likely to face, said Huff-McClure.
(Jennifer P. Brown is the editor and founder of Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at jennpbrown@yahoo.com)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
