Small businesses have been struggling since the start of COVID-19, but new allowances are being implemented in Kentucky to increase their options. For the past two and a half months, restaurant capacity has been firmly limited at 50%. But now, restaurant capacity has been upped to 60% effective March 5.

Gov. Andy Beshear announced the loosened restrictions on March 1 following seven straight weeks of declining COVID-19 cases.

The change applies to bars, restaurants, salons, bowling alleys, gyms, retail, government offices, and places of worship. Some businesses won’t be changing anything until there is more evidence of safety, while gratefully accepted Beshear’s new allowance. Local businesses spoke on their views on this decision as they have all been hit hard this past year.

“We’re happy for our customers that have been uncomfortable coming into the store. We feel like this is gonna make people feel a lot more comfortable. We don’t have phone orders, so we think people will be more comfortable to come in and actually walk around the store and look around, which obviously will help business,” Lisa Justice, co-owner of Chevy Chase Hardware, said on the new allowances.

Justice owns the hardware store with her husband, John Justice. She said that there are never more than 10 people in the shop at a time, so the restrictions never affected them very much anyway, except for when they were the first business in town with masks and sanitizer available in mass.

Madison Wathen, co-owner of Street Scene Vintage, said she appreciates Beshear’s handling of the business restrictions.

“I support progress, but at the same time, I guess for me personally, the numbers don’t feel quite low enough to necessarily warrant the change, but at the same time, like I get it as a business owner,” Wathen said. “I realized that everyone is just doing the best that they can and what they think is best. I mean, I’ve been very proud and thankful to have a business in Kentucky. Like, obviously, it’s very different in other places.”

Street Scene Vintage has had a very different experience compared to Chevy Chase Hardware. Oftentimes, there will be an employee waiting at the door to keep note of the amount of people in the store at all times, to ensure safety for everyone in the building. Owners Wathen and Jillian Wiseman will not be moving forward with this capacity limit, and will stay far under the government mandated limit, as they’ve been doing the whole pandemic.

“Why would you be in business if you don’t care about your customers and your guests that are coming in and their safety and health? People might be annoyed. And that’s just something that we have to deal with, like people that feel like places should have been more open even before now. Like you obviously have people in that group. And then, you know, you, of course, have people that are still being extra safe,” Wathen said.

Other businesses are proceeding with the same operation plan as before the restrictions were loosened. Bourbon and Toulouse, a favorite local restaurant among UK students, was originally intended to be primarily take-out since its founding 16 years ago.

When the world completely changed last March, owners Kevin Heathcoat and Will Pieratt shut down indoor dining and have yet to go back since.

“With our simple operation, we were able to quickly make it work for us. Over the course of a couple of days, we figured out that the world has changed and we had to change with it or we weren’t gonna survive. So we are gonna remodel our kitchen and put a second exit door for our staff to do curbside and a walk up window for Doordash,” Heathcoat said. “I wouldn’t do anything until I knew that every one of my employees were vaccinated. We’re gonna do it the safest way possible. We’re gonna continue on with the healthy at work guidelines that have been set by the state.”

Girls Girls Girls Burritos is another popular food spot that has suffered during COVID-19. Although owners and best friends Sara Wood and Wade Hancock are grateful for the support and love from Lexington and the work Gov. Beshear has done during this pandemic, they still prefer most patrons get take-out instead of utilizing their socially distanced dining room until all staff can get vaccinated.

But COVID-19 is not the only topic on the minds of Girls Girls Girls

“Ultimately, what is going to make our economy flourish? Racial justice. We should still be putting that first and it will lead to the best economic moves, much more than this 10% increase. I encourage everyone to look into Representative Attica Scott and House Bill 21,” Wood said.

Still, the 10% capacity increase gives small businesses hope after powering through a year of business challenges. Though grateful for Beshear, some small business owners say there’s a lot left to be desired in terms of aid and think the capacity increase may be premature.

“I think you’d be surprised by the amount of small businesses that are about to lose everything, but still doing it the right way because it’s the right thing to do. You gotta sleep at night, stop corporate America,” Heathcoat said.