After eight months of serving customers through the rear entrance of his establishment for take-out only, chef Rob Walsh welcomed patrons inside his restaurant for dine-in services just two weeks ago.
Jason Williamson makes a food delivery with Five Star Food Express from Flo’s Ristorante Pizzeria & Sports Bar this past spring. With the implementation of a new epidemic order issued by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services due to rising COVID-19 cases, customers will have to return to delivery and pickup options as all dine-in services have been suspended at bars and restaurants for three weeks beginning Wednesday. — DN file photo
For Walsh, it was a monumental reopening as guests at the Green Harp in downtown Greenville once again enjoyed a warm breakfast seated in booths and tables while being attended by a wait staff taking extra precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But since that time, COVID-19 case numbers have continued to climb, surpassing the types of figures witnessed when the pandemic first hit in the spring.
As a result, with Sunday’s epidemic order” issued by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), dine-in services are once again suspended, this time for three weeks beginning Wednesday through Dec. 8.
Similar to last spring, Walsh and countless other restaurant and bar owners are now back to square one with pandemic-related restrictions — being forced to choose whether to return to pick-up only or to close temporarily.
“I refuse to focus on everything bad when there is even just a tiny bit of good to be thankful for,” Walsh declared. “(I’m) not sure what I’m going to do, how long this new order will last or be extended … I’m not sure of plenty of things right now, staring outside into the dark morning, (but) this I am sure of — I gotta keep pushing and be thankful for another day to try and figure it all out.”
After serving a busy breakfast crowd Monday morning, Walsh said he will be open through today and will then make a decision, hopeful that the temporary closure is just that — temporary.
‘IT’S ALL HANDS ON DECK RIGHT NOW’
Dan Uccello, co-owner of Flo’s Ristorante Pizzeria & Sports Bar in Greenville, was trading text messages with Winter Inn owner Barry Thornton across the street as the news of another dine-in shutdown became a reality.
“This is horrible,” read a text sent from Thornton to Dan.
Dan and his brother Davide are now scrambling to put plans together to stay open at their four Flo’s locations.
“I didn’t get any sleep last night because we have to come up with a plan,” Dan said. “Each store is different and needs its own plan. It’s all hands on deck right now. I’m on operations and Davide is on financials.”
Dan said while he doesn’t anticipate this shutdown to be as dramatic as the one last spring, it will still require him to lay off all his hostesses and server assistants. With an expected rise in demand for take-out orders, all cooks will remain on staff, as well as bartenders, who will handle the cashing out of customers as the bar area is converted into a larger pick-up waiting area to accommodate for the cold weather.
With take-out orders representing just 15% of Flo’s sales, Dan is anticipating yet another period of lower financials.
“Overall, there’s nothing nice about this,” he said. “It’s affecting my family, it’s affecting my employees’ families, it’s affecting everybody. There’s not a whole lot we can do, but do this and get back on the right track again.”
Dan is hopeful that those who can afford to support local small businesses affected by the new order will make an effort to do so.
“We’d love to see the community, we appreciate the support,” he said. “I only ask that if things are not up to our standards or their standard, please be patient with our staff. We’re going to be doing everything we can. We promise that we will always do the best for our guests. Being in the hospitality business, that’s what we strive for — making our guests happy. Just be patient with us.”
Dan added that the Flo’s Collections catering business will continue to operate and be available for purchase of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and he encouraged patrons to take advantage of an upcoming “buy $25 get $5” gift card promotional that starts next week, to use once dine-in services resume.
The one silver lining, according to Dan, is that with two days to adjust — instead of last spring’s more abrupt state order — he was able to cancel several food and liquor orders to prevent a backlog of items that otherwise would have spoiled.
‘A FINANCIAL HIT’
The Forager in Howard City was offering a significant discount — 50% off all food and drinks — on Monday and today, to sell off inventory as the concept of offering to-go services was evaluated.
“Takeout will be in the works, (our) chef is working on a special menu, slightly more cost-effective items for the winter months,” a post stated on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Meanwhile, at the Smyrna Bar in Otisco Township, it’s as if owners Jennifer and Marcus Bosch had the foresight to see the closure was coming.
On Nov. 12, they announced they would be closing inside service “for the foreseeable future,” as COVID-19 numbers continued to climb. According to Jennifer, none of the staff at Smyrna Bar have tested positive nor have any COVID-19 cases been traced to the restaurant; however, she said the safety of the public is their priority.
The plan for Smyrna Bar at this time is to move forward with take-out services, but only on Thursdays through Saturdays and with a limited menu.
“We need to reassess our menus and what we can afford to have on-hand,” Jennifer said. “Believe us when we say this is a very hard choice. Our staff depends on us to pay their bills. We depend on (customers) to buy our product.”
Jennifer said the shutdown is bound to hurt the establishment financially and she’s hopeful the public will step up and support her small business.
“We don’t pretend this isn’t a financial hit to us — it is,” she said. “Know that we will do everything to stay afloat and reopen inside, or outside, when the time is right. We cannot put a date on that yet, it will all depend on the spread of this deadly disease.”
In Belding, Pete McGowen of Third Wave Coffee is determined to stay open for take-out only, whether it be coffee or a personal pizza.
“It’s a crazy week, it’s going to be weird to go through this new epidemic order for the next three weeks,” he said. “As of Wednesday, we will be take-out only. If you can support us, you can also support another local business.”
Each week, McGowen said customers who buy from his coffee shop will be entered into a drawing to win a “grab bag” prize from a local business, this week being Koki, a new skin care small business that recently opened up shop in Belding, valued at $100. It’s just one small way he believes he can help out another small business at this time, and he encourages his customers to do the same for every small business they can afford to assist.
“There are also many opportunities for you to support locally here — Smyrna Bar, The Horse’s Mouth, Bridge Street Cafe, Paula Jeans — I know I’m missing some, but they are locally owned and it means the world to us,” he said. “These next three weeks are going to be tough.”
THEATERS TRY TO HANG ON
Movie theaters reopened to the public just over five weeks ago, and they are now being ordered to close their doors again.
Starting on Wednesday, the Ionia Theatre will only be open for concession sales until at least Dec. 9 following the Michigan health department’s new epidemic order. — DN Photo | Brandon Schreur
“Basically, we just got re-shutdown,” Crystal Box Office Theatre co-owner Drew Lane summarized.
Under the new state order, gatherings at all entertainment values — including auditoriums, arenas, banquet halls, cinemas, conference centers, concert halls, performance venues, sporting venues, stadiums and theaters — are prohibited until Dec. 9.
NCG Cinema Executive Vice President Ryan Jankovic told the Daily News the Greenville theater is already in the process of shutting down again.
“NCG is in the process of complying with the announcement and is already looking forward to safely re-opening as soon as possible,” Jankovic said. “Please tell our customers we look forward to seeing them as soon as possible!”
According to NCG Cinema’s website and the Greenville theater’s showtime number, all events and movie screenings were canceled on Monday for the foreseeable future.
“NCG has suspended operations because of the coronavirus,” the showtime number says. “Operations will be suspended until further notice.”
While the Crystal Box Office Theatre opted not to fully re-open to normal screenings in September, Lane told the Daily News several events they had originally planned for Thanksgiving now have to be canceled.
“We had a Thanksgiving comedy show scheduled for Nov. 24 and Nov. 25 that we’re now in the process of canceling,” Lane said. “They say that two households can gather indoors, which I assume would be around 10 people, but that’s not enough of a crowd to justify continuing with the show.”
The theater had also hoped to plan with Candle Cottage in Crystal to host a free movie weekend over Thanksgiving, but that will likely no longer be happening.
“Again, with only 10 people being allowed in, we can’t justify that,” Lane said.
The Crystal theater is remaining open for concession sales with social distancing measures in place, but has no immediate plans to re-open for public screenings once the three-week order ends.
“We’re 100 percent wait and see, at this point,” Lane said. “We’re taking things day-by-day.”
The Ionia Theatre will also remain open for concession sales during the three-week shutdown.
“As of Wednesday 12:01 a.m., your Ionia Theater will be closed for your safety and we will re-open Dec. 9 at the earliest,” stated an Ionia theater post on Facebook. “We will be open for curbside concessions as before.”
Curbside concessions will be available on Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.
GYMS TRY TO STAY SAFE
Gyms — which reopened to the public about 10 weeks ago — are allowed to remain open but with strict limitations according to the new state order.
Under the new state order, exercise facilities are allowed to remain open as long as gatherings don’t exceed 25% of the total occupancy limit and there are at least 12 feet of distance between each occupied workout station. Gatherings for group fitness activities or classes are prohibited.
The Club Fitness Center co-owners Alan and Gloria Guilfoyle said they are doing everything they can to make sure their Greenville gym remains a safe and healthy place.
“With CDC and Health Department protocols in place, COVID-trained staff, well-equipped sanitation stations, equipment spacing, limited class and pool occupancy and social distancing, everyone, especially our members, are complying to make our facility a safe place to be,” they wrote in a Facebook post.
The gym has additionally installed a UVC air purification system in its heating and cooling ventilation systems in order to further promote client’s safety.
“We will have a special, by appointment, 30 minutes individual or bubble group station circuit set up in the gym starting Monday,” the post says. “It will include a variety of exercises and movements from each of our weekly classes. The pool will remain open by appointment. Fitness floor and cardio will remain open with all precautionary members intact.”
Luann Koester, manager and director of the Lakeview Community Wellness Center, said she was not entirely surprised by the state’s announcement due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.
“I was thankful that it was not an entire shutdown of fitness centers, gyms and other businesses,” Koester told the Daily News. “I see that so many people desperately need the activity for their physical and mental well-being. We have a wide range of ages from late teens to seniors. We have one member who is 93 years old and, without exercise, older folks lose muscle and stability.”
Koester said many of the classes at the Lakeview center did not resume when reopening in September.
“We do continue to offer live online yoga classes; however, we have no way of collecting money to pay those instructs unless the members voluntarily do so,” Koester explained. “I’m hopeful that the individuals will continue to come in and stay active. Many of our members have been very supportive by continuing to pay memberships during the long six month closure we just went through.
“At the beginning of the year, we had plans for several needed improvements to our facility,” she noted. “However, a lot of the funds that had been planned for use on those projects was needed to pay mortgage, utility and breakdown repairs. In our small community, those projects would have gone to local contractors, another loss for our community. Christmas is coming, try and shop local to keep our area businesses alive. Lakeview Community Wellness Center does sell gift certificates and please mask-up to keep numbers down so our business can stay open.”
Staff at Ionia 24/7 Fitness told the Daily News the business was glad to remain open in some capacity during the coming weeks.
“We have continued to closely monitor how COVID-19 has affected our community and businesses throughout the pandemic,” a business official said. “We weren’t surprised at the increased restrictions, but are thankful that our state leaders see the value of allowing members of our communities to have the opportunity to work on their health and wellness by working out at our gym.”
Ionia 24/7 Fitness still plans to remain open 24 hours a day for member access to the gym.
“We are adhering to capacity restrictions and social distancing in order to allow members to safely exercise,” the official added. “Additionally, we have started our ‘Black Friday’ special early and would be happy to see new members come check out our facility and take advantage of great pricing promotions.
“We will be unable to offer our group classes for the next three weeks. Although it is unfortunate not to be able to provide all of the amenities our gym offers, we are thankful that we can remain open and serve the health and wellness of our members.”
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