The doors to your favorite restaurant or favorite store may be locked, but that doesn’t mean they’re closed. The local businesses in Statesboro are still open and still looking for your business.

As the number of people affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) increases across the nation, the city of Statesboro is taking steps to keep the community safe and to slow the spread. In a town hall meeting on Sunday, March 22, Statesboro Mayor Jonathan McCollar brought forward an executive order.

The executive order called for businesses to close and prohibited gatherings larger than 10 people. This did exclude some businesses such as grocery stores, some restaurants, hospitals, doctors’ offices and some retail stores.

This executive order is to last 15 days and will be revisited at the end of this period. With this executive order in place, it means many local businesses are having to close their doors because they are deemed “non-essential.” However, these businesses are still finding ways to keep business going.

Local retail stores such as Dish, Stella, Cheeky Bliss and Sole have had to close their stores. Each store has gone completely online for the time being, but many of them are offering free shipping on orders and curbside pickup.

They are also all remaining active on their social media accounts and are allowing people to order off of them as well. These stores are also offering discounts on orders!

Restaurants are also feeling the effects of COVID-19, and the executive order as they are also having to close their lobby area. Local restaurants are also finding ways to continue to serve customers in the safest way.

Local coffee shop Three Tree Coffee Roasters had to be creative with their ways to continue to serve the community their coffee. They have created a local delivery service on select items as well as online ordering through the app Cloosive for curbside pickup.

Three Tree Coffee Roasters have also shifted their Saturday Brunch to their trolley. You can now order brush and drink orders at the trolley, with your order being brought straight to your car.

Founder and Owner of Three Tree Coffee Roasters Phillip Klayman said that there has clearly been a drop in sales across the board, but it has been so cool to see the community’s support and response to their efforts.

Greg Filipek, the manager of Bites on Brampton, said Bites is taking extra health and safety precautions during this time to ensure the staff’s safety and the customer’s safety. They have reduced the staff and are allowing only three people in the lobby at once to ensure everyone will have six feet of space.

Filipek said, “We’re just going to keep it going forward with the business, but really focus on providing a safe environment for customers.” 

Like Bites and Three Tree Coffee Roasters, other local restaurants are offering curbside pickup and even delivery. Restaurants that serve alcohol like Gnats Landing and Del Sur are authorized to sell alcoholic beverages during this time.

Filipek says Bites are lucky that they are able to stay open when so many other businesses have not been as fortunate.

“It has affected business for us since we have such a young customer base and a lot of the students have gone home for the semester,” Filipek said.

This time has put a strain on all local businesses, and each will be hit with some kind of economic hardship. In this time of difficulties and uncertainties, it has raised the importance to continue to support locally owned businesses.

Filipek said, ” The best thing to do right now is to support local and family-owned businesses, but do so in the safest way possible.”

Feature image credit to George-Anne Media Group