/The bottom just fell out’ Small, rural businesses grapple with COVID-19 crisis

The bottom just fell out’ Small, rural businesses grapple with COVID-19 crisis

It’s almost like the bottom was pushed out all at once. It was not a slow process. It took only a few days,” stated Matty Bengloff (manager at Delta Meat Market). Gov. Tate Reeves made a shelter in place order that went into effect on April 3. This meant that restaurants couldn’t offer dine-in. Before the order was made, The Meat Market began offering only to-go meals and curbside pick up. The Delta Meat Market, which employs approximately 50 people, made these changes and now does about one-twentieth the business. Cole Ellis, owner and operator, said that it is doing roughly one-twentieth. Delta Meat Market is a Cleveland institution and community anchor. It was established in 2013 as a butcher shop. The restaurant became a restaurant that served lunch, but it also opened on Friday nights as a bar and happy hour. In July 2019, it moved to a new location that was connected to the Marriott owned Cotton House Hotel. This included a rooftop bar, restaurant upstairs, and a separate downstairs restaurant serving three meals per day, except Sunday dinner. Bengloff stated that they felt like they were finally hitting their stride after opening new operations. Since then, they’ve been able to transition back into a butcher shop as well as a small grocery and offer meals to-go. But it isn’t really sustainable without the restaurant part. This is compounded by the small, but significant percentage of our business that was dependent on the hotel having a lot guests who would come to dine with us at certain meals. Bengloff stated that the hotel now has very few guests, if any. Apart from this, the Meat Market had planned events and weddings that it was to cater. These have all been cancelled. Bengloff stated that although all of the cash has been turned off, we still have bills from two weeks ago. “You cannot just stop ordering and be okay.” This is what many businesses in the country are experiencing right now. It’s different in small towns with small businesses. It feels more personal. It is unlikely that the social landscape in an urban area will change dramatically if one restaurant or bar closes. The town of Cleveland, the most populous in Bolivar county and home to around 11,000 people, will feel completely different if it loses one of its restaurants. It will end. But it doesn’t end. That’s the scary part. It will always be there in your head. It’s still in your mind. Is it possible that they are tired of being in social settings? It’s possible to get out of this in June. But when will they start returning? Or do they return?” Justin Huerta is the owner and operator of Hey Joe’s burger restaurant and Mexican restaurant Mosquito burrito. Hey Joe’s hosts weekly trivia every Wednesday night, has live music on weekends, and holds festivals throughout Cleveland throughout the year. Huerta claims that the restaurants have lost 80-90 percent of their business following the outbreak of the coronavirus. “The big chains are scrambling so it’s hard to imagine the mom-and-pops who don’t have social media presence or marketing staff. Huerta stated that if it’s you and your spouse doing this stuff, it can be difficult. The financial impact of COVID-19 is different for small towns. There are less employment opportunities which means that there is less work available when there is a furlough or round of layoffs. If a large number of people were laid off or a factory closed, many small towns have been forced to close. Judson Thigpen is the Executive Director of Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce. “That would be a common thing for a rural region depending on maybe one source employer that closed,” he said. “So if we put that in context of what we’re currently going through, we have a large number employers that are closing. Hopefully temporarily but they’re closing.” CARES Act confusion There’s a strong feeling of trepidation surrounding the CARES Act – stimulus legislation that provides financial assistance to businesses during the coronavirus epidemic. These bailouts are not targeted at restaurants. Ellis stated that they are not targeted at the hospitality industry. Delta Meat Market must hire its staff back by June 30, in order to be eligible for the loan forgiveness provided by the CARES Act. “If we hire our entire staff back, we don’t have any work for them because there isn’t any demand for food. Bengloff stated that they don’t want them to come in every day as we want to practice social control and good stewardship. “And there’s just such uncertainty so you’re scared to take out loans or apply for grants because if these terms aren’t met at the end you could get all of this money.” Other local business owners applied for the forgivable loan but claimed they faced difficulties because the application was changed several times. Haley Kelly, the owner of H Squared, said that she was redoing paperwork at 5 AM because it was due Friday. “They changed the form overnight after everything had been completed.” Kelly, like many business owners, had to quickly reorganize her entire business. Kelly’s business booms during Easter, graduation, proms, and formals in Spring. She has moved all her business online and closed her brick-and-mortar store. Retail is no longer essential. We’ve done pretty well with our online orders. My friends order clothes online like mad which is very sweet. This week has been hard. Our April sales have been terrible. Kelly stated that we are down 90 percent. Despite the dire situation, the community rallies to help. One member of the community sends regular checks for Delta Meat Market to support recently laid-off employees. All tips made by the Meat Market are donated to these laid-off employees. Jimmy Williams, a Country Platter part-owner, spends at most an hour delivering leftovers to elderly shut-ins or food insecure kids every day. It is evident that the community has made a concerted effort to support local businesses. Restaurants are responding by trying to offer affordable food and a safe way to give back to the community. Huerta stated that there is hope and we will get through it I know. “The world will continue to move forward, but there is still so much unknown.”