ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Business owners braced themselves for the possibility of a complete shut down, but were relieved when St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced only capacity restrictions and gathering limitations.
A few Clayton restaurateurs told 5 On Your Side, rainy weather will affect their business more than the updated restrictions.
"Weather is a big deal," Bar Napoli owner Ande Pietoso told 5 On Your Side, "when it rains our numbers are probably down 50%."
Herbie's owner Aaron Teitelbaum agreed, "When the weather is great and people are sitting on our patio, we are in better shape. When it rains, we only have a small covered area."
So when the weather is good, business is good...pandemic and all. The Clayton restaurant owners are not particularly worried about the updated restrictions St. Louis County rolled out Thursday morning.
"It will not affect us too negatively," Teitelbaum told 5 On Your Side, "we're just grateful that they didn't shut us down."
Ande Pietoso is on the same page, "I don't think it is going to affect us as much as some other businesses, just because we have a huge outdoor space."
Restaurant owners with outdoor space feel comfortable with the new county plan, but gym operators have concerns.
"The struggle that we are having is that we need to rebuild to get to where we were," Burn Boot Camp owner Chelsea Theodoropoulos told 5 On Your Side, "So taking one step backwards, two steps backwards is a huge interruption to my business."
For Theodoropoulos, the county's announcement dealt not one blow with the 25% capacity limits, but two blows because of the 50 person gathering cap. Burn Boot Camp holds popular outdoor sessions.
"Being limited to 50 people is a big time blow," Theodoropoulos explained. "That's going to hurt our opening for Kirkwood."
Regardless of the updated restrictions effect on businesses and individuals, area doctors say it must be done.
"At the end of the day as hard as it is for everybody to have social distancing and to make sure that we don't transmit the virus to one another, this is what needs to be done," Dr. Alexandre Lacasse with SSM Infectious Disease told 5 On Your Side.
