A ‘soft launch’? Centre County businesses approach partial reopening with caution
Days ahead of Centre County’s partial reopening, some businesses and organizations are reviewing state recommendations while others plan to open doors that have been closed for about six weeks.
Several COVID-19 restrictions are set to be lifted or eased Friday in Centre County and 23 other counties, Gov. Tom Wolf announced last week.
Stay-at-home orders are scheduled to be removed, gatherings of up to 25 people are expected to be permitted and retail stores and some other businesses can start to reopen.
Curbside pickup and delivery from retail stores is preferred instead of in-person shopping, according to the governor’s plan.
Restaurants are largely unaffected by the change, as they’re still limited to carry out or delivery. Gyms, barber shops, nail salons, theaters and other venues will remain closed.
Some retail employees have expressed “trepidation” about returning to work, while some business owners are interested in making masks a requirement, Downtown State College Improvement District Executive Director Rob Schmidt said.
“We’re kind of flying blind right now,” Schmidt said. “... Is there an intermediate move between yellow and green? If you look at the plan, it looks like going from red to yellow is a baby step and yellow to green is a long jump.”
Wolf released guidance Monday for businesses in the 24 counties that are set to partially reopen.
Businesses should implement a plan in case they are exposed to a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19, stagger shift changes, limit the amount of people in common areas, conduct meetings and trainings virtually, and frequently clean the building.
Appointments are preferred, but if they are not feasible, businesses should limit the number of people inside the building to no more than 50% of the total maximum occupancy.
“Businesses in the 24 counties that may reopen beginning May 8 must take precautions to protect their employees, their employees’ families and their communities,” Wolf said in a statement. “... All businesses, but especially those that were closed completely during the red phase under the business closure orders, need to carefully review this guidance and commit to ensuring the health and safety of their employees and their communities.”
Emporium Market temporarily closed March 14 despite “heavy hearts and empty pockets,” and co-owner K.C. Peck said Monday that the handmade art and gift shop is “unsure” of when they may reopen.
DSCID and State College Borough plan to hold a webinar Wednesday for business owners to discuss reopening.
Downtown Bellefonte Inc. plans to meet with its businesses to discuss Wolf’s guidance about how businesses may reopen, Main Street Manager Gina Thompson said.
“Most don’t have plans yet for if and how they will reopen,” Thompson said. “Some of them don’t plan on reopening until they know they can do so safely.”
The Nittany Quill announced its plans to reopen with modified hours to start, while Harpers, Rapid Transit, Lions Pride and Barefoot Shoes all plan to at least partially reopen Friday or Saturday, Schmidt said.
Penn State’s commencement ceremonies for the families of about 46,000 undergraduate students were scheduled for Friday through Sunday.
But rather than preparing for an influx of business, Schmidt said he hopes businesses treat the upcoming reopening as a “soft launch.”
“A lot of our businesses want to be be very careful,” Schmidt said. “They want to make sure that they’re not putting their customers or their employees in peril.”
The reopening could be a boon to businesses that have applied for government relief and often asked customers to purchase gift cards to help stabilize their cash flow.
Harpers’ sales are down about 90%, owner Brian Cohen said Monday. And now the design and fashion store is facing a “lost season,” with months worth of product sitting on their shelves.
Some major clothing retailers filed for bankruptcy, three vendors that supplied Harpers with apparel have closed and Cohen has already scaled back orders for the fall in anticipation of lower demand.
“I just sat in on a Zoom call with around 70 other men’s stores similar to mine around the country and the best I heard someone say was they were down 85%,” Cohen said. “He was doing better than most.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 9:56 AM.