SHAWANO, WI – Governor Tony Evers announced Monday that standalone or strip-mall based retail stores are able to offer in-person shopping for up to five customers at a time while maintaining required social distancing practices.
The news comes with a celebration for many small businesses who have been hurting for over a month.
In Shawano, prior to Monday’s announcement, business was being impacted in many ways and small business owners felt the one-size fits all approach is not the way to go.
“It does not have to be all or nothing. I think there should be an element of trust in our small business owners that we are going to do things properly and safely, and allow us to continue to operate in such a way to protect the community, but at the same time, earn an income so that we do come out of this, the real small Mom and Pop businesses can survive this,” said Heather Pahl, owner of Martin’s Jewlers in downtown Shawano.
Pahl says her business was impacted because internet and curbside business does not work very well in the jewelry industry.
She says that is not something that lends itself to an over the internet, click and buy atmosphere.
“That is not who we want to be. Trying to make sales without people seeing the jewlery, touching the jewlery and looking at it in person is very difficult. We figured that we were going to be able to bring people in at least one at a time by appointment, and that would have made a big difference for us.:
Pahl says the timing was not ideal with this being wedding and engagement season, which usually brings in a lot of business.
“We have had to do some things outside the box to maintain some sort of income.”
The apperal industry is also impacted because people need to make sure their clothes fit and look good on them.
Tumbleweed in downtown Shawano completly closed down when the order came out in March. They started online and Facebook sales for three days that included curbside pickup. They then decided to allow one person in the store at a time when the order changed, but that was stopped when they were informed by the Shawano Police that it would be considered an order violation.
We were told that we cannot allow anyone in the store even though we were allowing only one person in at a time,” said owner Yvette Hartman-Wilber.
Many business owners felt they were getting the short end of the stick by not being able to open when some “essential businesses” in the area were allowed to open with little or no restriction.
“I don’t see what the difference is with 200 people in a bigbox store and one person at a time in store,” said Mark Bolin of Bolin’s Speedy T’s. “They essentially told us we are not smart enough to make those desisions.”
Business owners have gotten support from past statements made by Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber who said business owners would have the knowledge by now to operate their business safely.
“I believe the Sheriff is saying that these small business owners are smart enough to control who is in their store and keep people safe on their own,” said Bolin. “If I could go to a small business I know that I would feel a whole lot safer in than I do in bigbox stores that are fully open.”
That thought was echoed by both Hartman-Wilber and Pahl.
“We clean the counters down, we keep the doors locked, have people set up appointments, spray my fabric down,” Hartman-Wilber said. “It is just sad because with people getting their stimulus money, many would like to support local with that.”
“As large as they are and the volume that they have, I think it would be unreasonable to think that they would be able to take the same percautions that stores like us would be doing,” Pahl says. “Are they changing their gloves after each customer, are they sanitizing all of their jewlery after someone touches it?”
“Everything is so grey, it is tough and I think everyone can find someplace on the list that makes them essential,” Bolin said. “We offer facemaks, so does that make us essential?”
Pahl says they have been continuing to do cleaning and repairs for already purchased products as part of their business. She says they try to help people by finding out what they are looking for, hand selecting some items and meeting them curbside to show them options.
“We are trying to stay compliant. I do feel that there is a happy medium that allows our customers and my team to remain safe and also give the general public the felxibility and the freedom to make intellegent decisions.”
Bolin said he has seen business that are using methods to control how many people are coming into the store and every small business can do that. He says his customers come in randomly throughout the day and feels he could ensure safety for the customers.
“I would invest in a piece of plexiglass at my counter. I would do what it takes,”he said. “Small business owners are all in and they invested their time and money to live the American dream of owning a business just to get slapped in the face.”
Pahl said she has a plan in place to make sure that people are safe in her store.
“It would allow us a chance to prepare for each customer with our PPE and cleaning and would also allow us to be more efficent with the customer and give us time to clean and reset inbetween.”
The Shawano Police Department has been enforcing the restrictions put in place by the Governor.
“Those aren’t the city rules. They come from the State of Wisconsin,” said Chief Dan Mauel. “What we are doing is trying to gain compliance the best that we can. The last this we want to do is make an arrest, we have not had to yet and we hope we don’t have to.”
Hartman-Wilber said she would have liked to see the Mayor issue a letter to the business owners in the city explaining what they expected.
“Our Sheriff said he was not going to issue citations or shutdown businesses that decide to open so we knew where he stood, but our city gave no direction. You could have 10 people in a restaurant at a time waiting for pickup, but not one at a time at a clothing store, I just don’t get it.”
Chief Mauel said his officers were instructed on how to handle any complaints or issues due to businesses being opened while the order was in effect.
“We will educate, warn, ask for compliance and that is route we are taking, but we also make them aware that we can enforce and hope we don’t have to go that far, he said. “We are just enforcing someone else’s order.”
Wilber says she feels that clothing is essential.
“It is really about interpeting what is being said.”
“I don’t think anyone wants to see me running around without clothes, so I think clothing is essential,” Bolin joked.
With the latest news from Madison, is it a start to getting back to normal, even if it is a “new normal” for awhile.
“This is not going to be a quick fix,” said Pahl. “It is going to take awhile.”
Bolin knows that first hand as he said his business is being impacted by the cancelation of communityy events.
“At this point we have lost 75 percent of our business income and it is getting harder and harder everyday to keep the lights on. We had to start running an online t-shirt printing store for shirts with quircky messages on them,” Bolin said. “If I did not do that, I would have lost 100 percent of my business.”
The other issue for Bolin will carry over to 2021.
“We are going to be impacted for a long time because we already had stuff for events printed for this year that they are going to use next year.”
As a Shawano County Board Supervisor, Bolin says he is concerned about the lasting impact that this will have for the local economy.
“This does not just impact small business, it impacts the county because your tax revenue is down and what you are going to run into is budget shortfall because we are not collecting sales tax and it is going to put the county and potentialy the city in a bad spot.”
He says he even tried drafting legislation to help business owners.
” I was told that we had no legal teeth to do that and the Govenror could just override it, so they say we can’t act as a County Board.”
“We have worked so hard to build our downtown,” Pahl said. “To see some of that lost would just be heartbreaking.”
A link to the order can be found here.
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