COVID-19 And Local Restaurants

By Kendra Hill Staff Writer

As many local and family owned restaurants close down due to COVID a few restaurants are finding ways to keep their doors open during this time.

“Its affecting us as a business as its cut our business in half or more,” Said Rene Iverson wife of the owner of The Corner Stone Pub in Emmetsburg. “As we are not aloud to have sit down dining allowing our customers to enter sit and have dinner or drinks and stay longer which one normally spends more time and money. We’ve had to modify to State standards rules….Carryout, Curbside and added Delivery. we’ve had to come up with different options, ides to sell our products out the door. Even at times price cut just to move it so it doesn’t go bad or price cut so that people can afford to eat out and support you.”

“We have had to completely change how we operate,” Said Liz Hoppe owner of DejaBrew in both Emmetsburg and Spencer Iowa. “We used to depend on eat-in customers for lunch and coffee for business -they made up a large portion of our profits. Now we have had to go to curbside or to-go only. Implementing a curbside system and being able to finish my website which has been a huge boost to business and we’ll continue to use it once we are back to ‘normal’”

Some local business are having to shut their doors due to not a huge among of fund being offered to them and or them just turning away the grants that they are offered. Many business have said they don’t want the governments money and or just turned the money down because they believe that they can thrive on their own.

Iverson later on said. “Yes I would be able to open but funds definitely are affected for sure. Bill’s never quit it seems.But modifications we’ve made certainly has helped.”

 Hoppe later on said, “If we would have been closed entirely at some point, I do not know what would have happened. We are extremely frugal when it always comes to cash in the business and I try to keep about 2 months’ worth of expenses in the bank account. So, yes, I do think we would have ‘survived’ but I do not feel confident that we could have recovered very quickly or how re-opening would have looked.”

The Cornerstone in Emmetsburg offers live music to guest but since COVID has happened they haven’t been able to have live music.

Some of the business families have been affected by covid as their family has to step in and help. While the other employees are laid off waiting for a phone call from the owners saying they still have a job when they open back up.

“It has affected my family not just financial but also putting them on the front lines as they’ve stepped up and had to pick up where our other employees left. We’ve all put in long long hours. With no pay just to somewhat make a profit in that days sales. It’s been stressful on me as a business owner and as a family man. We’ve all stepped up. It’s been hard but as a sole proprietor in a family ran business..where we don’t employee a lot of staff. we’ve been turned down for Grant’s to help overcome this so that add to the stress as well. It’s been hard on the family…the uncertainty of not knowing what day to day business or laws will bring you.”-Iverson

“My husband has still been working as normal and our son is still going to day care, so our day-to-day lives have not changed much. We did not see my parents or grandparents until they had quarantined/social distanced for two weeks and we have not seen my husbands family in two months as they are in Woodbury county where there is a lot more cases, which is very tough. My sister also got married on April 3 and we had to watch through Facebook live – that was weird and hard and probably the toughest part of the COVID-19 situation for us personally.”-Hoppe

So what I have been doing and what many others have been doing is eating local and not going to name brand restaurants. I support small business and what they stand for. They are doing their best to keep their doors open. But if we don’t keep supporting them eventually they will have to close their doors for good.