PORTLAND, Ore. — Business across Washington County will spend this weekend getting ready to open again on Monday as the county enters Phase 1 of the gradual reopening plan put into place by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.
At Beaverton gym Workout Anytime, the spray bottles and hand sanitizer take a rare break sitting on a shelf. They’ve been used often here. This is a day of cleaning and prep after a shutdown that stretched two and a half months. Owner Jason Lobaugh bought the franchise at the first of the year.
“We shut down March 23. So, not being able to draft members for that amount of time, things were really starting to get tricky,” he said.
But now he sees a path forward. Lobaugh said the gym will have sanitation in place that goes beyond what the CDC recommends and believes the gym’s reputation for being clean will lure customers back.
“So, we’re really confident you can come here and work out and feel safe about the cleanliness here,” said Lobaugh.
The feeling is the same at Frenchies Modern Nail Care in Beaverton. They’re installing plexiglass shields and booking appointments with customers eager to get back in.
“Yes, we are very excited to be opening on Monday since we have been closed two and a half months,” said owner Linh Halama.
Phase 1 means personal care salons, like Frenchies, and gyms, like Workout Anytime, and restaurants can reopen.
But everyone is still concerned about the coronavirus, so customers will have to book appointments and wait in their car until a text tells them to come in.
In Hillsboro, the Bennett Coffee Roasting Company offers hand sanitizer with your caffeine. You can also buy a mask for your face.
“We have three different kinds of masks,” said co-owner Rene Bennett. She and her husband own and operate the company and roast coffee beans in their backyard.
Behind the scenes, it’s been tough.
“It’s been pretty scary, pretty hard,” Bennett said.
She said they got no federal support and no help from the employment depart. They sold coffee online and can’t wait to get customers back into their general store on Monday.
“We’re all worried about how we’re going to make the rent on the buildings that we’ve been closed two months, and how is that rent factoring into the income that’s going come in the next three months,” Bennett said.
