Businesses ready to open as some state COVID-19 restrictions are lifted

Chicago-area business owners are preparing to open their doors Friday, hoping to recoup some of the money they lost after being shut down for more than six weeks because of the state’s stay-at-home order.

Changes to the order taking effect Friday will grant some non-essential businesses the ability to begin serving customers again inside brick-and-mortar stores starting Friday.

But the ease in restrictions is far from a return to normalcy.

Businesses with permission to reopen include beauty supply stores, gardening centers, pet grooming and golf courses, as well as some state parks. Many of these must put in place new safety measures, including restricted hours and constant sanitizing, Some will have to add new services, such as curbside pickup.

House of Melanin, a beauty supply store at 262 Chicago Ave. in Oak Park, specializes in hair care products for African Americans. It took a major hit during the lockdown, but safety takes priority, said owners Myeisha Campbell and Samuel Campbell.

“As a business owner I put the health of my community before any type of business profit,” Myeisha said. “What’s right is that we make sure we are healthy and we are protecting our community from this disease that is disproportionately affecting African Americans.”

Myeisha is also a hospital worker who has seen firsthand how devastating COVID-19 is.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

They will open Friday with restricted hours to gauge customers response, and may extend their hours by Monday, Samuel said.

The husband-and-wife duo will mimic how they’ve seen larger grocery stores operate during the pandemic. That includes markers on the floor reminding people to stay 6 feet apart. They also will limit the number of people in the store. Customers must wear masks, which will be provided if needed.

“We will also have staggered hours because we will need time to routinely sanitize our products, wipe down shelves and also sanitize our air,” Myeisha said.

They’ve also added delivery and curbside pickup for customers who order online, since “people need to touch and smell some products and that is not really an experience you can get online,” Myeisha said.

John Whedbee, owner of Heart of Chicago Grooming, 1921 S. Blue Island Ave., said it’s a relief he can get back to work Friday, but there is a level of anxiety.

“I think it’s an honor to be able to provide services for people in a time like this, but it’s also a bit of pressure because we are putting ourselves in harm’s way to an extent,” Whedbee said.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

His cage-free shop and one-customer-at-a-time approach is an advantage during social distancing, he said. He also leaves a 20-minute buffer between appointments, so he can disinfect the shop.

“I’m actually calling people ahead of their appointment to make sure they have a mask on and I am putting signs up letting people know I can’t let people without a mask in,” Whedbee said.

Demand is still high even with all those precautions; he’s booked for the next three weeks.

Olivia DiCola, general manager of Olivia’s Garden in Morgan Park, said the revisions to the state’s stay-at-home order couldn’t come at a better time.

“We are feeling pretty blessed because we don’t have a ton of business from January through April so we didn’t take that big of a financial hit yet with the earlier orders,” DiCola said.

“But we were starting to get nervous because we’ve been growing our products since November and we can’t stop our flowers from growing,” she added. “If we were told we couldn’t open until the end of June it would’ve been pretty disastrous for us.”

Like other businesses, Olivia’s Garden, 10730 S. Western Ave., will have some restrictions in place.

Only 10 to 12 customers at a time will be allowed into the gardening center and everyone must wear a mask, including all 10 employees. Face masks will be available for customers who don’t bring one.

“I hope it’s a good season despite everything that is going on,” DiCola said. “We have a nice 70-degree weekend ahead of us and it should be a test for what we should expect moving forward.”

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Manny Ramos is a corps member in Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of issues affecting Chicago’s South and West sides.