‘I’m excited, but nervous.’ Business owners have mixed emotions as Centre County begins to reopen
Centre County’s subdued emergence from about six weeks of aggressive COVID-19 mitigation efforts featured smatterings of small crowds and some still-shuttered storefronts.
Centre was one of 24 counties that moved Friday into the yellow phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan, which lifted the stay-at-home order, permitted gatherings of up to 25 people and allowed retail stores to reopen.
The reopening could be a financial boon for some business owners and their employees, but the marketing challenge isn’t lost on Nittany Quill owner Joy Mernin.
Convincing would-be customers to visit businesses after weeks of urging people to remain at home except for essential purchases is “a weird thing,” Mernin said.
“It’s kind of like opening your business again,” said Mernin, who first opened her downtown State College stationery shop about 36 years ago. “It’s that same feeling. It’s like, ‘Is anyone going to come through the door?’ ... I’m excited, but I am nervous and I want everyone to feel comfortable even though we all have to think differently. It’s a mixed bag.”
Friday is the start of what could be a weekslong or monthslong litmus test.
Wolf and the county commissioners have each cautioned that a sharp increase in new cases could push Centre County back into the red phase of the state’s plan.
The county has had about 25 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, which remains below the state’s target goal of fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000.
Some retail businesses opted to remain closed even though they were permitted to reopen. Others, like CentrePeace in Bellefonte, were more zealous, even though obstacles remain.
The used furniture and household goods outlet’s staff is partially comprised of volunteers, which are largely seniors, and inmates from the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Older adults are among those who are at a higher risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19, and the CCCF has been closed to visitors and work release programs have been suspended since March.
“It was an easy decision to decide to reopen, but reopening is not easy,” Brown said. “... The people you see working the store is a skeletal staff.”
Wolf’s guidance calls for businesses to follow health recommendations that have largely become standard operating procedure.
Increased sanitation of frequently touched areas, implementing a plan in case the business is exposed to a probable or confirmed case and conducting business by appointment or virtually are pillars of reopening.
He also urged businesses to limit the amount of people inside a building to no more than 50% of its maximum occupancy, which is atypical of what most businesses look for when they open.
But for National Sporting Arms in Patton Township, whose opening Friday was already delayed because of the pandemic, there was still excitement is joining the Happy Valley community, co-owner Adam Kordes said.
“Besides posting a video last night, we’ve tried to be kind of quiet. This is not our grand opening, it’s just us unlocking our doors,” Kordes said Friday. “We are going to have a grand opening sale and celebration as soon as we’re allowed to open on a large scale, but I’ve tried to do this on a little bit of a reserved basis because we don’t feel comfortable inviting masses of people all at the same time.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 4:39 PM.