HYANNIS – As Massachusetts begins the reopening phases during the COVID-19 pandemic, local businesses are looking to not be forgotten.
Amanda Converse with Love Live Local explained that while larger retail corporations like Target and Walmart are able to keep their entire inventory available for purchase with no restrictions, including items not deemed as essential, many small businesses are left closed.
“So they’re selling what the store down on Main Street is selling and people are able to buy it and walk out with it, and the small mom-and-pop shop has to stay closed through this whole thing,” Converse said.
Converse said it was frustrating to feel that local businesses have been left out of the conversation without being given some extra leeway to operate, especially after they’ve adapted to new standards that have been implemented from the state level.
Some businesses have been doing online shopping and curbside pickups. Those methods are included in the initial reopening steps presented by the state government.
Converse said it’s important to remember that despite the fact that much of the Cape Cod economy is based on the summer season, which may already be negatively impacted in the wake of the pandemic, there are still many full-time businesses that have struggled due to lost time during the spring.
“If you’re not going to loosen restrictions,” she said, “then the state has to step up in a different way.”
Converse expressed the importance of all members of the community and government supporting local businesses during this time.
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