Local businesses go the extra mile to serve community through pandemic

As the pandemic moves into the tenth month and cases are reaching record numbers across the country, small businesses here at home are coming up with ways to continue to serve their customers through a year of uncertainty. With the support of the local community, these family-run businesses hope to come out on the other side of the pandemic and stay in business at the same time.

Early in the pandemic, METS Home Value in Central City saw an uptick in business, as many people spent their time during the shutdown fixing up their homes and making improvements. Owner Mark Thompson said after the first month or so, things slowed down and business remains steady but slow for the hardware store. “What I’m concerned about now, since we’ve gone through everything, everybody’s got new decks, new whatever, are we going to see anybody coming into our store?”

METS has been open in Central City since 1998, and because they are considered by the Centers for Disease Control to be an essential business, they did not have to close their doors during the initial shutdown. “If we had to close down, like a lot of other stores did, I don’t know if we’d be back open now,” Mark said. “You know, we’ve just been hanging on and thankful for that.”

Mark Thompson, at METS Home Value, carries top name brands, just like big box stores, with added customer service of a small town store. (Leader-News photos/Stacie Barton)

Donna and Jennifer Hunt, the mother and daughter team at LeeDawn Originals in Greenville, spent the first days of the pandemic moving into a larger storefront, only to shut their doors to the public. As their Easter, Mother’s Day and prom attire sat unsold, they saw an opportunity to pivot to something everyone was suddenly looking for – face masks.

“I had ordered a line of dresswear from a company, and lo and behold, they decided they’re going to start making masks in their U.S. facility. I’m a big proponent of USA made stuff,” Jennifer said. They went ahead and ordered 200 masks, which quickly sold. Now they try to keep masks in stock and they have become one of their best selling items.

Jennifer scrambled to fine tune her website, and shifted to using Facebook Live to promote and sell items in her store. She said they have a faithful following that show up to watch, and they offer items like an auction. “It’s like a local QVC,” she added with a laugh.

The upscale boutique is stocking lots of comfy tops and jeans, which they never sold before, because the pandemic has their customers looking for more casual attire.

If changing direction in midstream, or trying to understand what your clients might need next isn’t enough of a guessing game, Alesha McDonald has been asked a million times why she would gamble on opening a new business during the coronavirus pandemic.

“People say, ‘Are you crazy?’,” McDonald said. “Maybe! But everybody loves ice cream.”

McDonald has just opened What’s The Scoop, in Central City. She said the pandemic has forced families to slow down and be together more, which fits in perfectly with the atmosphere she wants to create at her ice cream shop. “I wanted to make a place where mom and dad can come home from work, have some dinner, and then say, ‘Hey, let’s go get some ice cream.’”

Laid off from her job in commercial construction, and after a 16-year career in the healthcare field, McDonald said she was ready to take the leap and become her own boss. With four children between herself and her husband, she hopes to provide them with a place to work, and a place to hang out too. It didn’t hurt that the location on the corner of Broad and First streets is her dream spot, complete with outdoor areas to sit, along the retaining walls of the newly reconstructed corner.

Alesha McDonald, owner of What’s The Scoop, opened her new business in Central City, this month. (Leader-News photo/Stacie Barton)

Of course, following that dream during a pandemic has its challenges. What’s The Scoop opened this month, and carries 16 flavors of ice cream made at Chaney’s Dairy Barn in Bowling Green, but can only serve their budding clientele with takeout and curbside service options at this time.

“I was kind of on pins and needles, once we got everything with the remodel done,” McDonald said. She is hopeful that the current restrictions aren’t followed by any shut-downs in the coming months. “Being a new business, it’s going to hurt us. I just have to keep my fingers crossed and pray. That’s all I can do.”

“So far, people have been really generous,” Mark Thompson at METS said, regarding customers following mask and distancing guidelines. “We’ve had no issues. We’ve obeyed and tried to do the best we can, since Day One. Just like everybody else, whether you agree with it or not, you do it.”

Thompson hopes that being nearby and local, they will continue to draw in local customers. “I think we can really meet anybody’s needs, just like the big box stores. We have the same top name brand products, and offer curbside service. We take it out to them, out to their vehicle, or set it outside for them.”

The Hunts at LeeDawn weren’t bothered by government restrictions, because they both have underlying health issues and are at high risk for complications if they were to contract COVID-19. Family members at home are also high risk.

“From Day One that we got to open our doors, I made people wear a mask. That has never been something that has wavered with me,” Jennifer said. Her mother, Donna, added that asking people to sanitize their hands when they come in the shop has been the hardest part. “We literally feel like the sanitizing police at the door, because we want our store to be as clean for the next customer who comes in as it was for you.”

After hosting crowds on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, the Hunts have opted to close their doors voluntarily for a few weeks, afraid that Thanksgiving gatherings and holiday shopping will cause an increase in COVID-19 cases. They aren’t willing to risk their health or the health of their family members by keeping their doors open.

Instead, they are offering shopping by appointment, and have invested in special tools to ensure dressing rooms and garments are properly cleaned between each customer. They are happy to use technology to help their customers shop as well, often using FaceTime or Facebook Live to show their customers what they have in stock. Purchases can be picked up, curbside.

“I think anybody that’s gone through this year of business, feels like they can tackle anything,” Donna said.

“It’s sink or swim, do or don’t. It’s adapt and change,” Jennifer adds, “the people who can’t adapt will not make it through this.”

“Maybe this was God telling us we need to slow back down,” said Alesha McDonald at What’s The Scoop. “We need to focus on our families, and focus on each other, because when everything else in the world is absolutely crazy, you still have your family.”

McDonald said she’ll be open to serve her customers 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. She wants to be there for people when they’re heading out to second shift work, or coming home late.

“I walked outside that first night, and our open sign was there, and our lights were on. It’s inviting,” she said. Being part of a thriving downtown is important to her. “I want to be part of it, I want to be in the center, in the heart of it.”

“We’re just trying to do our part, and offer the best service we can be to people,” Mark Thompson at METS said. “And just like you and me talking, it just helps to talk to someone – it helps to be ears, because a lot of people are lonely right now and depressed, and you know a lot of times we try to add that in. If you want to talk about something, we’ll take a minute and talk about it.”

METS is a bit of a hangout for people, and Thompson said that’s intentional. “That’s what life’s all about, communication and the friendship we have with one another. It’s always been a bonus, if we sell product to keep us here. As long as we can get along with each other, help each other, comfort each other. You know, we all have differences of opinions, and things like that, but it all comes down to sitting down together. We need to love each other and help each other.”