As Adams County reopens, we are all looking forward to what we hope will be better days.
We asked four local businesses about their experiences and their visions for the future:
At Sweeet! The Candy Store, 100 Baltimore St. in Gettysburg, revenues have been way down. “We are at about 0 percent or 2 percent of last year,” said store owner Cindy Fox.
“We were allowed to stay open, but we closed two months for safety and because there weren’t many people in town,” said Fox. “We’re getting a few orders from a new online service we started, but that’s not a moneymaker.”
“We were lucky we had reserves that allowed us to get through this. We took care of ourselves,” said Fox.
Fox said the owners sent each of their employees a “bonus” check when they closed in March to help them while they waited for unemployment benefits.
“We’ve now re-opened on weekends to put one of our staff members back to work, and we are now interviewing for two more positions,” said Fox.
“I’m optimistic now,” said Fox. “Memorial day weekend was good and we’re going back to opening every day again.”
Ed Reely, head professional at Mountain View Golf Club in Fairfield was also optimistic. “We’ve increased our number of plays in May by 35% over last year. People aren’t doing anything else. They couldn’t plan a vacation but they’re allowed to get out on the course. Usually Memorial Day weekend is one of our lighter holidays, but it was very, very busy,” said Reely.
Reely said workers had been laid off during April when the course was closed. “We used as few people as we could to get the course in good shape. I didn’t hire anyone until May 1. We’re bringing in the essential positions. We’re about three-quarters staff now,” said Reely.
“We’re following all the CDC guidelines, sanitizing anything people touch. The flag sticks are not to be pulled out, we allow only one person per golf cart, and there are no ball washers, sand trap rakes, or waste cans on the course,” said Reely.
“People have been awesome. They have been very patient. We only allow three people in the clubhouse at a time,” said Reely. “People keep their distance and then exit by the side door.”
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“I’m one of the fortunate ones,”said Shiela Luckenbaugh, owner of the Gettysburg Baking Company at 17 Lincoln Square. “We’ve been good. We haven’t really lost. We’ve had great support from the community.”
“I didn’t have to take any loans. I cut labor – I had to make that call. I have to do a lot of the work myself and I have about 1/3 of my labor working,” said Luckenbaugh. “We didn’t have to close the doors. We changed our hours and are not staying open so late.”
“The goal is to hire staff back. I was down to three and now I’m back to five,” said Luckenbaugh.
Luckenbaugh said the bakery was not currently offering sit-down dining, but that wasn’t a big part of their business model.
“We’re holding on,” said Bill Wickham of Dirty Billy’s Hats. “There are no reenactments — just National Park Service orders.”
“We got some PPP [Federal Paycheck Protection Program] support. One little shot. It all helps,” said Wickham. “Now’s the time to catch up on my mail orders. “I hope it ends soon.”
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.