Businesses adjust to the pandemic
Stores close, take precautions
SLP Nest closed its doors to the public Aug. 31. According to Program Coordinator Symone Wilson, the coffee shop served as a place for students to freely express themselves.
April 24, 2020
When Starbucks modified its hours to close earlier in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Starbucks employee and senior Sarah Wojtasiak said her once calm closing shifts with only a few other coworkers abruptly changed to an earlier shift with a nonstop hectic drive-thru.
“Now it’s much more busy. It’s kind of hard to relax in the moment. Usually at night it’s very calm and serene and I can talk to my coworkers, but now it’s super busy. I don’t have time to talk,” Wojtasiak said.
ShowPlace ICON Theatre is one of thousands of businesses that had to shut their doors as COVID-19 continues to sweep the country. According to ShowPlace ICON Theatre floor staff and junior Marcos Alvarez, before shutting down completely, the theater began to take precautions by allowing customers to reserve two seats in a row with two empty seats on both sides.
“A week before (Gov. Tim Walz) shut down schools we had begun doing massive cleaning, sanitizing everything. Either way there was something for us to do because we only had 100 people coming a day, which is particularly very low for a movie theater,” Alvarez said. “We took a bunch of precautions but we knew that we would get hit hard.”
The SLP Nest located a few blocks from Park gears most of their services toward young adults and students. When schools closed, it was best for the Nest to move online where they could best serve their community while keeping everyone safe, according to program coordinator for the SLP Nest Symone Wilson.
“We definitely noticed a decrease in people entering the Nest. We also changed up some policies while we stayed open,” Wilson said. “I would request that anyone who came on-site would wash their hands before and after leaving, but it wasn’t soon (after) that we decided to close.”
Starbucks has stayed open but taken several precautions including drive-thru only, not allowing personal cups and supplying its employees with masks, according to Wojtasiak. She said she has experienced mixed reactions from customers.
“Last time I worked we were given masks, so that was kind of nice because before then I was just wearing a bandana,” Wojtasiak said. “I think people are understanding and willing to tip more, but you sometimes face rude customers which is just part of the job.”
ShowPlace ICON Theatre adjusted their times and cut down on the number of workers they had at one time. According to Alvarez, shifts became very scarce. A typical shift for him switched from working concessions to sanitizing most of the time.
“You had to do stuff that you didn’t sign up for or what you weren’t being paid to for,” Alvarez said. “You were sitting there for 2-3 hours just cleaning and could get cut because they can’t afford to keep you. There also isn’t a point in keeping you because there is no one there.”
Unlike the ICON theatre, the Nest is able to continue to serve its customers virtually. They have created two online activities that anyone can participate in to try and keep people connected, Wilson said.
“It started off slow, just because pivoting I think for every business has been hard, but for ours in our community, we are really listening to what people want to see, so if there is something that we can be doing that would be more entertaining or more useful for our community and young adults, that is what we want to be doing,” Wilson said.
