The neon “open” light is still on, yet nobody is sitting inside eating.
This visual is now commonplace in Franklin after Gov. Roy Cooper mandated restaurants and bars across the state close to dine-in customers. However, to-go orders, curbside pickup and delivery options are still allowed.
Cooper announced the executive order March 17, and it took effect at 5 that afternoon.
Business isn’t exactly booming for local establishments. A few days in, empty parking lots at many businesses were a g rim sign.
Some restaurants have decided to shorten their hours of operation, while others have decided to close their doors while Americans adjust to an altered lifestyle because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some dedicated and loyal customers are doing their part to support local establishments and still eat at their favorite places every day.
However, with the closure of schools, many people are resigned to their homes. That means they’re making meals with food they purchased at the grocery store instead of ordering takeout or delivery from restaurants.
It’s still very early with this adjusted business model. For many, it’s a fluid situation, where things change with each day, and the future is uncertain.
Supply chain questions
US Foods is the biggest supplier for The Normandie. But with more people buying groceries, it means food suppliers are opting to help out the stores and cutting back on the number of deliveries to restaurants.
Steve Tallent, who owns the restaurant along with his mother, Etta Tallent, said he gets food deliveries three times as week, but that could be cut back because restaurants aren’t requiring the same amount of supplies as they were previously.
Tallent said he could get supplies from a grocery store, but staples such as bread, milk and eggs have purchasing limits.
While business has been “OK,” Tallent said he doesn’t have any intentions of closing.
“We’ll do it as long as we can. As long as we can get the food,” Tallent said.
“Yes, it has slowed down. But I appreciate every one of my customers. Some of them are here every day for breakfast and lunch.”
The Normandie’s 51st birthday is next month. This is the first time the diner, known for its tan booths and wood paneling, has ever closed its dining room. Customers now drive around back and pick up their food.
Tallent said there are bills that will continue to need to be paid. He wants to continue staying open, thus paying his employees while still providing meals to his loyal customers.
“Nobody knows what’s gonna happen,” Tallent said. “I never thought I’d see something like this.”
Hope through faith
Sunset Restaurant has been open for 75 years. The restaurant has weathered many storms during its existence, including during the 42 years for owners Mike and Renee McCall.
“We continue to stand to serve our community and support all of our restaurants. We are community and we are neighbors,” Renee McCall said.
Sunset is built upon the returning customers and personal relationships. While those customers no longer are able to sit and visit each day, the staff can identify many of the customers by their automobile – not to mention what they’re going to order.
“The lack of personal connection between us and patrons is huge,” McCall said, “and the lack of camaraderie between employees is a loss.”
The McCalls have been able to retain about 1/3 of the staff. They’ve added business deliveries and revamped their set up to move food as carryout with expediency and care.
They’re maintaining hope by replacing panic with praise and worry with worship.
“Our hope lies in our faith,” McCall said. “We have been challenged to be good stewards of our blessings and to serve.”
Fewer hikers at Lazy Hiker
The wooden chairs and tables inside The Lazy Hiker taproom were empty on the afternoon of Friday, March 20, a time when the brewery would typically be bustling with people celebrating the start of the weekend.
The brewery remains open for a few hours daily for to-go purchases of four-packs and six-packs of canned beer, as well as growlers of draft beer. However, nothing can be consumed on site.
Graham Norris, head brewer, said more than a dozen employees between the Franklin and Sylva taprooms have been laid off.
“Thankfully the government is helping with that and they’re allowing people to apply for unemployment immediately and not have a waiting period,” Norris said. “And they’re not charging employers for ultimate back pay on that. So that’s a positive thing.”
The two taprooms account for approximately 60 percent of the businesses’ revenue, Norris said, with the other 40 percent coming from distribution.
But with restaurants closed to dine-in customers, the demand for kegged beer is nonexistent at the moment. Sales are up for canned beer, whether at the taproom or at grocery stores, but it isn’t enough to account for the difference.
“We’ve seen an increase in package sales at grocery stores right now, but I don’t know how long that will last,” Norris said. “It’s helping to mitigate the losses in distribution, but it’s still not the same.”
Beer production had been starting to ramp up, Norris said, in anticipation of a busy tourism season that begins with an influx of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. He’ll continue brewing, but it will be with minimal staffing, including volunteers to help with canning one day this week.
“Typically, especially once we move into the busier season, we keep about a two-week supply of inventory on hand, because we’re just rolling through stuff so fast,” Norris said. “Without near as much income coming in, I don’t want to order a bunch of stuff and be sitting on it.”
AT hikers have been recommended to leave the trail. Some states are issuing stay-at-home orders, and getting supplies could be an issue affecting hikers who are determined to push on.
Hiker Joe “Ginger” Beal stopped into Lazy Hiker on Friday for a six-pack. He plans on returning home to Philadelphia for possibly a month to see what happens.
“I have the time and the finances right now to be able to do that,” he said. “Not everyone else is in that situation.”
Beal had to wait nearly two hours to hitch a ride into town. And with places shutting down, the experience isn’t nearly the same.
“It’s weird to come to places like this and everything is closed,” he said. “It takes away from it a lot.”
Shut down
The Rathskeller Coffee Haus and Pub, known for its coffee, beer, milkshakes and baked goods, is one of multiple businesses that have temporarily closed.
Owners Natasha Sebring and Adam Kimsey debated whether to even open on St. Patrick’s Day before the governor’s mandate, because business had been so slow the week prior.
“We definitely fall under the bar and restaurant umbrella, so we decided to shut down,” Sebring said. “We played around with the idea of doing to-go’s, but it’s not really a good business plan for us.”
The couple filled out unemployment forms online Friday, but the website kept crashing because of so many people doing the same thing. It took each of them an hour to complete the process.
Despite these uncertain times, Sebring remains positive and hopes the precautionary measures will help.
“After all these extreme actions, I do have more faith that it will pan out OK for us,” she said.
“We all have to stay in this together and go through it day by day.”