'It's Either Open Or Close My Doors For Good'; Area Businesses Prepare To Reopen As Allegheny County Moves Into 'Yellow' Phase Of Reopening Plan
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - On Friday, Allegheny County will join twelve other counties and make the move to 'yellow' in Governor Tom Wolf's reopening plan.
"Yeah, I'm opening, I don't think they are going to rush in, but one sale is better than no sale," said Jacqueline Stone who owns Phoenix Boutique in Lawrenceville.
For the last two months, businesses like Stone's were hanging on by a thread.
"I'm sinking, the cavalry never showed up as promised. It's either open or close my doors for good," Stone said.
Stone spent Thursday steaming merchandise and preparing for the yellow phase on Friday.
"I don't think we are going to see much of a difference, but I have had people walking by say oh my gosh we are so excited to see I'm reopening so they say they'll be in, so we will see," Stone said.
While retail stores and individual offices can open in the yellow phase, business owners tell KDKA only about 50 percent are choosing to reopen in Lawrenceville this week.
"We maybe only have one to two clients in the store at a time so I felt really confident that we would be able to reopen in a safe way," said Samantha Skelton who owns Skelton Jewelry.
Skelton said she is limiting customers to three inside the store at one time, requiring masks and cleaning surfaces after each customer.
"If you say, 'Hey, I'm really interested in these earrings.' Go ahead and try them on, but after bring them up to the register and let us sanitize them the second you take them off," Skelton said.
At Wagner's Shoes, business was down with limited phone orders and curbside pickup.
"It's been 60 days, so we are hopeful that people are ready for a new pair of shoes," said Mark Wagner.
Wagner tells KDKA the employees have deep cleaned the store and set occupancy limits to less than 50 percent to prepare for reopening.
"We've rearranged all the seating to maintain social distancing at all times," Wagner said.
If you do head out to shop this weekend, business owners ask that you wear a mask, maintain social distancing and respect the set occupancy limits.
