Local Alabama business owners prepare for “Safer-At-Home” order

LAMAR COUNTY, Ala. (WCBI)- Alabama business owners are preparing for Friday’s “Safer-At-Home” order.

“Hope that we’ve been through the tough part. We don’t know, time will tell,” said business owner Curt Smith.

Smith owns ‘That Little Store Somewhere’ in Vernon. He says after COVID-19 shut his doors for nearly two months, he didn’t even know if his business would be able to survive.

“It’s tough to sit there and see all the hard work and money and time you’ve spent. We’re shut down, there’s nothing we can do as far as opening and there were several times I got nervous cause even though the money isn’t coming in, the bills still are,” said Smith.

Gwen Moore at Durham Pharmacy is stocking shelves for Friday’s crowd. She says there’s a plan to make sure the store stays at 50% capacity.

“We’ll have someone monitoring the door and we’ll just keep track and make sure people are walking around and not crowding other customers as they shop. We’ve been using the drive-thru and using our precautions and stuff with our masks and our gloves and not touching anything that’s been coming in or out,” said Moore.

The loss of local sales means the loss of sales tax, and that has put a strain on the town’s revenue.

City Clerk Don Dollar says the “Safer-At-Home” order will help boost the economy.

“Every business in this town is essential,” said Dollar. “We’re a small town and it takes every business to be able to stay afloat but when times like this happen, this town, this community comes together. We still got some that aren’t allowed to open and we’re sad about that today. But we hope that that’s something that’s going to be in step tow that every business in this town will be open and Vernon will return to normal.”

“It’s just a curve ball, just a part of life. You do the best you can with what you’ve got and we have and we’ll continue to do what we have to do to get through it and I think together we all will,” said Curt Smith.

Retail stores can open their doors for business on April 30th at 5 p.m.