In virus shutdown, small businesses find themselves backed against the wall.

All over Gig Harbor, small business owners caught up in the coronavirus shutdown are making wrenching decisions. Shut the doors, perhaps forever? Go online? Try to make it with takeout?

Susan Moore, an Army veteran and mother of two daughters, opened Better Gym six years ago, and threw her heart into the business, teaching several exercise classes a day, five days a week.

But gyms are “non-essential businesses,” and under the terms of Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order last week, she had to close the doors. Seventy percent of her members canceled.

She adapted, giving classes online to the handful of members she has left. But it may not be enough.

“I have a building downtown with expensive rent. I have not been able to get in touch with our landlord, so depending on how long this goes on, I may not be able to re-open,” said Moore, adding she does not blame the members, many of whom are no longer working either.

Small businesses like Moore’s are in a particular bind in a crisis like this, said Warren Zimmerman, the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. Bigger businesses can fall back on cash reserves or lines of credit, but smaller ones can’t.

“For now, unfortunately, most small businesses in general don’t have extra capital lying around. In an instance like this, they don’t have enough money to keep them going. It’s all about cash flow,” Zimmerman said.

Restaurants were among the first hit, by an order two weeks ago that closed dining areas. Popular eateries such as the Anthony’s, the Tides Tavern, and Greenhouse Restaurant have all shut their doors for the time being, while others are trying to survive on takeout orders.

Mary DesMarais, the executive director for Downtown Waterfront Alliance, said there are over 20 restaurants in downtown Gig Harbor, and currently only six are open.

“It’s apparently a ghost town down there,” DesMarais said.

Breaking the chain

Katie Doherty, is the co-owner of three restaurants, Brix25, Net Shed #9, and Brimstone PNW Smokehouse. Her restaurants are closed, and she says it was the right thing to do.

“We chose the best way to get back to normal is to break the chain, so by closing the restaurants we had a better chance of social distancing and getting society back to normality,” Doherty said.

Doherty said she’ll hang tough for two weeks, but she’s ready to re-open for to-go orders if need be.

“We are small business owners right to the core,” Doherty said. “We cannot afford to close down indefinitely, but we wanted to comply with the two weeks.”

John Duppenthaler, the owner of Maritime Chiropractic, said his business is still open four days a week, and he’s made adjustments, like using “curbside check-in” — meaning patients will call when they arrive and wait in the parking lot until their room is completely sanitized.

In a letter to his patients, Duppenthaler said he’s performing a service by treating back and neck patients who might otherwise be going to clinics and hospitals that need to be focused on the current pandemic.

Online on a shoestring

Other owners have had to close down shop and adjust to online service only.

Michelle Kammer, owner of Dolly Mama Boutique, temporarily closed down her business on March 16.

“It was before most everybody else, but it came very obvious to me that it was going downhill quickly,” Kammer said. “I didn’t want to unnecessarily expose my staff or customers.”

Dolly Mama, a boutique and home store, has two locations in Gig Harbor, on Pioneer Way and Harborview Drive. Now they’re concentrating on attracting clients to their website.

“We are also offering a 25 percent discount site-wide, and are offering free shipping, delivery and return,” Kammer said.

Kammer said although she’s taken a colossal hit on sales, she believes they will make it through this period and remain open.

Real Craft, a larger barn door manufacturing business formally known as Real Carriage Door Company, said they are doing well at the moment.

“We are a national company, and we are a strong company,” said Don Rees, the president and CEO. “We are continuing to sell, we are just holding off production.”

Rees, who closed the doors of Real Craft after the Governor’s announcement, said he does expect a decline in business, but said they have a strong national following.

“I don’t see this as a drop or economic burden on us, I see it simply as a suspension,” said Rees, adding that they recently were rebranded, a positive step for the business.

Backbone of the economy

Both the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Waterfront Alliance are doing all they can to help promote and assist the local businesses in the city. Both organizations are keeping up to date information posted on both their website and social media.

“Across the country, small businesses are the backbone of the economy. That holds true in Gig Harbor as well,” DesMarais said.

Zimmerman agreed, saying sales tax is the greatest source of revenue for the city.

“The businesses in the community are the largest revenue for the city of Gig Harbor,” Zimmerman said. “A lot of people think it’s property taxes but that’s just not true.”

Zimmerman said he feels with a large amount of businesses being shut down, a domino effect can take place that can lead the country into a great recession.

“If we can’t get our local economy moving in a pretty short order, I think you will see something much more difficult and a bigger recession than any of us has ever seen,” Zimmerman said. “It’s not just the guy selling hamburgers, it’s the guys raising the cows, the distributors of the food, the truckers who transport the food, it goes on and on.

“We have made this virus such a large part of what everybody is concentrating on, I am afraid we may have overlooked an important element. If you shut down all of your businesses, how do you ever get them restarted?” Zimmerman said.

This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 12:00 AM.