For Edy Richardson, her day-to-day decisions as a co-owner of Fountain City Coffee might be which roasts to feature. But since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, she’s had to grapple with larger public health decisions — such as whether to require her customers to wear masks.
An announcement last week from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp ruled out any kind of government-mandated mask policy at a state level and prohibited local leaders from imposing mask mandates for their municipalities.
In the absence of a government-mandated mask policy, business owners in Columbus are taking public health into their own hands.
Health experts now agree that face coverings are essential in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Cloth face coverings trap respiratory droplets that are released when someone is speaking, sneezing, coughing, or breathing. Masks help protect others, but don’t provide as much protection for the wearer — meaning that they work best when worn by everyone.
As of mid-July, roughly half a dozen local businesses in Columbus have mask policies. Dozens of Columbus-area locations of national chains have started to require customers to wear masks at their stores, including Walmart and Publix.
Business owners are now grappling with the gravity of their newfound responsibility and adapting their business to make mask mandates work.
Madeleine Cook mcook@ledger-enquirer.com
Small businesses and public health
Small business owners now find themselves facing an entirely unfamiliar situation of making public health decisions that would normally be left to policymakers and public officials.
“It puts a lot of the responsibility on businesses to sort of enforce public health policies, and I feel like that’s kind of wild,” Edy Richardson said. “We’re coffee shop people, not public health employees.”
Some business owners who spoke with the Ledger-Enquirer feel that an extra burden has been placed on their shoulders. Many say that a mask mandate that’s handed down from the government, be it at the local or state level, would be a welcome relief.
“I think that the situation is ridiculous,” said Frances R. Malone, co-owner of Two Sisters Gallery. “There’s no reason that the government doesn’t do it.”
Ultimately, business owners who implement masks policies say they are doing so because they believe it will significantly increase the safety of their customers and employees. Others say that a face mask is a sign that the employee and customer mutually respect each one another’s safety.
Madeleine Cook mcook@ledger-enquirer.com
Keeping businesses open one mask at a time
As the sole operator of Beejou Kombucha on 12th Street, Suhyoon Wood’s health is the one thing keeping the doors open and the kombucha flowing.
Though Wood co-owns the kombucha store with her husband and occasionally has her mother help out in the back, these days she’s the only person manning the kombucha bar while her husband is deployed.
“I realized since this is my business, I’m the only one who runs it. And if I get sick for two weeks, that’s huge,” Wood said. “So, in order to kind of keep our business afloat and keep the doors open, we decided that it would be best if, if I wear a mask, the customer wears a mask, to reduce any risk of me getting it.”
A handful of businesses in Columbus have shuttered their doors in recent weeks after employees tested positive for coronavirus. Since the beginning of July, Jarfly, Maltitude and Ride On Smoothie & Juice Bar all announced they would temporarily close their doors due to a positive case.
One ill employee is enough to close a business’s doors for weeks in order to sanitize the premises and to quarantine and test all employees for coronavirus before allowing them to return to work. Jarfly, which announced a mask policy July 6, was forced to close its doors on July 7 after one employee tested positive for coronavirus. The restaurant reopened Tuesday with a mask policy in effect.
At West Egg Cafe in Atlanta, owners finally required masks for all customers after weeks of encouraging and then “begging” patrons to wear masks, Eater Atlanta reports. Employees of other Atlanta eateries worry that they will catch coronavirus or be exposed to abusive interactions with customers who refuse to wear masks.
Business owners in Savannah have struggled to find a balance between customer service and safety, Savannah Morning News reports. Some restaurants are refusing entry to diners without masks while other business owners say they’d rather leave enforcement up to the police.
Adapting to newfound responsibility
Once business owners have decided to adopt a mask policy, they then face the challenge of enforcing it at their place of business.
Most mask policies ask that customers wear a covering from the moment they enter the premises until they leave, with some exceptions. Additionally, some businesses offer free disposable masks to customers who arrive without one.
Edy Richardson said that the majority of customers at Fountain City are happy to comply with the mask policy. Fountain City has received overwhelmingly positive feedback on social media and many customers say they feel safer coming to the coffeeshop knowing that everyone inside will be masked up, she said.
“We try to be as nice as possible,” said Jud Richardson, Edy’s husband and fellow Fountain City Coffee co-owner. “We’re not trying to alienate people. We’re just trying to do the best we can.”
At Beejou Kombucha, putting a mask policy into practice has mostly been smooth sailing, but Wood said she had one customer who ignored her requests to put on a mask.
“It was a very grating experience honestly…” Wood said. “Should it happen again, I’m going to have to ask them to leave. Because again, I can’t put my customers at risk or myself.”
However, businesses can simply refuse service to customers who won’t wear a mask. At Fountain City, customers who won’t wear a mask aren’t served. There are some cases where customers can remove their masks, like for eating or drinking at a table.
Madeleine Cook mcook@ledger-enquirer.com
‘Please just don’t shut us down’
Though the enforcement of mask policies can be difficult, one Columbus business owner said that she’d far prefer to be open with a mask policy — and all of the hurdles, responsibility, and conflict that comes with it — than closed.
“We’ve had to adjust, you know, but I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world,” said Black Lotus Tattoo Parlor owner Cora Lynn. “I will adjust all day, please just don’t shut us down.”
Black Lotus Tattoo Parlor’s adjustment differs remarkably from that of a restaurant or store. Because tattooing and piercing requires touching someone at close range, practicing mask wearing is doubly important, said Lynn.
Some tattoo and piercing artists aren’t taking jobs above the neck for the time being. In order to ensure that customers know they need to wear a mask and to prevent crowding, sessions at Black Lotus are currently by appointment only — an adjustment the tattoo parlor may adopt permanently.
Tattoo and piercing artists are already used to wearing gloves, sanitizing equipment, and taking other precautions; wearing a mask is just another layer of safety.
“We already had a very high grade sanitation schedule. We’ve taken that and we’ve multiplied that times three,” said Lynn. “It’s always been on our mind, now we just think about it a little more.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 11:48 AM.
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Adrienne Underwood reports on coronavirus recovery for the Ledger-Enquirer as a Report for America corps member. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. This reporting is financially supported by Report for America/GroundTruth Project and the Local News and Information Fund at the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley. The Ledger-Enquirer maintains full editorial control of the work.
