PHOENIX — Stores, barbershops, and salons were all given the green light to reopen this week after being closed for nearly two months. Next week, restaurants will be allowed to welcome guests into their dining rooms for the first time since being ordered to close them in March.
Some opened quickly. Others plan to open soon. And, yet, others are going to continue waiting unsure if opening is the best things to do since cases and deaths linked to COVID-19 are still being reported in Arizona.
Crazy Horse Jewelry has been a staple of Old Town Scottsdale for 28 years. As many businesses are, the owners at Crazy Horse are considering their options.
“There’s not really a point for us to open quite yet. We rely solely on tourism and foot traffic, and there’s just not anything happening,” said Christina Elabid, one of the owners of the family-owned business.
From Spring Training to sports to music festivals, food festivals, and everything in between, events in Arizona -- and across the country -- were halted in March as efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus increased.
Now, streets have less cars on them, nearly empty. Sidewalks that are usually filled with tourists looking for a souvenir or a bite to eat, are relatively empty.
“Us as a family we have a grandma at home and we want to make sure she is safe and we’re not bringing home anything to her,” said Sherine Elabid, who is Christina's sister. Their sales are down 90%, a loss of revenue they desperately want back, but not at the potential cost of their health.
“It’s hard. It’s our family's livelihood so we want to make sure that everyone is able to, but you just don’t want to rush it,” said Sherine.
It's a similar question that Mark Teahen, owner of Sorso Wine Room, a wine bar at Scottsdale Quarter, is looking to answer.
“We would feel terrible if someone came in and ended up getting sick,” Teahen said.
He has transitioned to takeout and delivery like most restaurants, but it doesn't bring in the same amount of money as having people inside his business. But, opening his dining room by Monday puts his employees and customers at too much of a risk, he said.
“I feel like since the announcement was made that we could open on the eleventh, each day has been a new high in the death totals,” he Teahen, data that he is closely monitoring.
It is the same for Mark Pectol of Zesty ZZeeks Pizza and Wings, an East Valley staple that, for now, is continuing with takeout and delivery.
“I just don’t want to be the guy who has a restaurant that people come into and now I’m on the news for all the wrong reasons,” said owner Mark Pectol.
As it stands, his employees are healthy and earning an income.
“I can’t begin to put my self into the shoes of a restaurant that has 95 percent of their business is sit down, and so for them to open up on Monday I 100% support it and understand it,” said Pectol. He just hasn't made the decision to do that just yet.
