Amidst the banning of gatherings of 10 or more people in the City of Greenville, restaurants are facing a crisis that may determine their future viability.
Sid Guest, co-owner of Stamson’s, and Allison Nimrod, owner of Sherman’s, have adjusted their business plans to cope with the current environment.
Both restaurants are offering curbside service, but the business pales in comparison to a normal day of operation.
Guest said his revenues are down about 50% and Nimrod said her business is off a great deal.
“There just aren’t as many people out, and if we keep having days like this, it’s going to be tough,” Nimrod said.
When the first news of limiting gatherings of more than 10 people came out, Nimrod said she gathered her team together at the restaurant and went over options.
She first asked if anyone was in a compromised position and felt as if they couldn’t work. She said those employees were allowed to go off the schedule.
“We’ve been trying to be as flexible as possible,” Nimrod said.
While the restaurant is only offering curbside service or delivery of five orders or more to businesses, they are still preparing for regular service.
This means there is food left over at the end of the day, and Nimrod said she is offering the food to her employees who are laid off.
“We want to keep it going,” Nimrod said. “If we don’t have the demand or staff, it’s going to be tough. Otherwise, we want to keep it going.”
Nimrod said she will switch the menu to a more family-style offering as the order of no gatherings of 10 or more people persists.
Guest said he is trying to keep everybody employed at the restaurant right now, but they have adjusted schedules.
“Restaurants run such a slim margin,” Guest said. “We couldn’t go a month if we had to close down totally. It’d be real tough to bounce back from being off a month.”
While some restaurants are offering curbside service, some have shuttered their doors completely for the time being.
“I know a couple (restaurants) closed for a while,” Guest said. “We will try to keep it going.”
Guest said there have been a few bright spots in the virus shutdown.
“Some friends of mine have been going to the other restaurants in town switching it up and just trying to spread it around a bit,” Guest said.
