CLEVELAND — Some Northeast Ohio salon, restaurant and fitness center owners are wondering how much longer they can financially survive during the ongoing coronavirus shutdown order.
Many owners are wondering when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will finally give service business owners a reopening date—a green light already given to manufacturing, distribution and construction businesses on May 4, and retail outlets on May 12.
James Muhammad, owner of Capo Steaks on St. Clair Avenue in Cleveland, said carry-out business has kept him going, but he's wondering how much longer he'll have to wait for a reopening date.
Even when he can reopen his dinning area, he's wondering what the business climate will be like for hundreds of local outlets.
“When you hear that a lot of companies, a lot meat suppliers, a lot of food distributors are 50-60% down,"Muhammad said.
“I’m worried about when we get back and we do get back to normalcy, what does it look like, will it ever be normal?"
DeWine announced the creation of "work groups," assembling experts in a wide variety of service businesses categories, looking to create best practices, hoping to announce re-opening dates sometime next week.
"Business people helping people, putting them together and letting them come up with best practices that will actually work," DeWine said. “I know many people that go to gyms, they miss their gyms, we're putting a working group together. Theater and arts is another one, professional sports is another one, child care is another one. Once we get the best practice up, we’ll set the date, we’re going to do the same thing with hair and set a date.”
But Donna Walker Brown, with Black on Black Inc. has helped to put together a petition drive, urging DeWine to begin to opening salons, restaurants and fitness centers next week.
“They need the governor to make a decision, all the work groups, they’re nice gestures, but time is running out for these people's livelihoods, their families are on the line. They can’t hold-out another two to three weeks, there’s no coming back after two or three weeks, because they will have exhausted all of their resources.”
RELATED: State assembling groups to help plan more business reopenings including restaurants, hair salons
