Danielle Betker knows her customers at Lillians of Hutchinson are looking for a certain experience. The boutique's visitors are often enjoying a day with friends while they walk down Main Street, stop for lunch and visit shops to try on clothes.
Lillians, like numerous businesses in Hutchinson, has had to close its doors due to the state's COVID-19 response plan. When Gov. Tim Walz extended the stay-at-home order to May 18 but allowed retail businesses to offer curbside or delivery services, the adjustment didn't look like the change Betker says her business needs.
"We have a lot of different vendors," she said. "If you go to a big box store, sizing is standard. But at a boutique it is not. On every brand the sizing is a little different."
Betker said her business has done "OK" with online sales, but in an entire month she has made in sales about what she would make in a day or two of regular business.
"Customers want to come in," she said. "I'm excited (curbside) is another option for us, but do I think it's going to really bring us a lot more business? I'm not really sure."
One of the first groups of businesses to close doors was salons. While they still cannot open their doors or offer many of their services, the curbside and delivery option has provided some means to earn income by selling hair and beauty products. Leah Watzke, owner of The Hair Lounge in Hutchinson, said she bags order when they come in and takes them home to be picked up by customers.
"We can't do any colors or any services, so it doesn't pay to sit at the salon for the one, two, maybe three (orders) every few days," she said. "It's not a really good use of my time."
Another Hutchinson business, Genesis Salon and Enso Spa, announced it would open two days a week with limited hours for curbside pickup.
Even though Watzke can't open the doors at The Hair Lounge, she's ready. Over the past few weeks she has ordered product as it's available in order to prepare. She has also made major changes to her interior in order to comply with social distancing requirements.
"We are a salon where we are one room, and everyone does hair in the one room, so we are separating everyone," Watzke said. "We got rid of the break room and my office and the dryer room and separated all our stylists so we have our own rooms. Each girl has been able to decorate their space however they want. We got rid of our lobby and took out all the magazines and books and all the (stuff that can't be sanitized)."
As of early this week, the Board of Cosmetology had not offered any rules for sanitation. "So we are using the common-sense approach," Watzke said. "We're going to be so busy when we come back. ... I want our clients to be able to come in and feel safe and know we did everything we can."
Watzke said she and the stylists at the salon are trained in sanitizing, and even before the response to COVID-19, the salon received training and surprise visits from the state in order to make sure a healthy environment was being maintained. Though she feels ready to open for business and offer a safe environment, she worries she won't be allowed to open for more than another two weeks.
Other businesses around Hutchinson have made changes as state orders develop, such as Smokes 4 Less, which early this week posted a sign advertising curbside pickup and delivery. Happy Sprout Brew & Grow was able to open its doors when garden centers were given the go-ahead a few weeks ago, and has taken to sanitizing everything people touch.
Mary Hodson, president of the Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, said that like Lillians, many local businesses have switched to online sales, and that like The Hair Lounge, many are making plans to offer a safe environment for customers when they are able to open.
"We're not asking for the lever to be pulled and for everything to open, but we are trying to get it so people can make their best judgments," Hodson said. "Businesses don't have to open if they don't feel it's safe, but to give them the option to do what's best is what's really important right now."
She said that most manufacturers are operating, but a few are not because the industry they support is not up and running. Tourism has taken a big hit, she said, and many restaurants have made the choice to close for now.
"In restaurants, the margin is very small," Hodson said. "So when you see restaurants aren't open, it's not that they're closing down. But it doesn't make sense for them to get product in, pay people to be there, and then jump through the hoops they have to. ... They can't make any money doing it."
As time goes on, the Chamber is receiving more frustrated calls seeking guidance.
"People are starting to dip into savings accounts," Hodson said. "You have businesses talking about how they can't keep their store open, they can't keep their business open. They can't dip into the family savings account. ... It's a critical situation. We are right on the cusp of another hammer dropping. We are right at that point here in Hutchinson."
She encourages business owners to write to legislators, the governor, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the state Department of Employment and Economic Development.
In conversations with business owners around Hutchinson, Hodson said she has heard consistently the desire to open up with safety measures in place and with means prepared to take care of customers' well-being.
"Some know one part of the business can't be opened safely, but another side or aspect could be opened safely," she said.
In the meantime, Hodson said she takes encouragement from the many businesses that are serving their customers in whatever way they can, and other times by inventing creative methods to help.
"That's the part that makes me very proud to be part of the business community," Hodson said. "They want to be sure to take care of their customers."
Watzke said she has helped customers with virtual haircuts. With a child holding the phone, she has guided mom or dad to the best of everyone's ability, sometimes before a needed haircut is started and sometimes after a mistake was already made.
"We're in this field because that's what we love," Watzke said. "We love to take care of others and I love hearing from clients. ... It makes the anxiety a little less."
The curbside and delivery option doesn't allow The Paint Factory to return to business as usual, as the event-driven venue still can't open its doors. But it has allowed it to try something new to interact with customers. The studio has started an event called "Friday Night Live."
"I'm down at the studio," said owner Tara Tepley. "I bring my brother in and he's our socially distanced DJ, and we do what we do at the studio. We do a canvas painting class and turn it into canvas and karaoke."
Karaoke is used because the event is streamed live through Facebook, and full songs can't be used.
"We had to get creative," Tepley said.
With curbside pickup, customers can grab the paint and canvas needed for the lesson. Throughout the week, The Paint Factory also offers take-home kits for other crafts projects.
"It's nice to be able to offer something again," Tepley said.
To help customers who may prefer a visual guide in place of written instructions, she has taken to uploading videos of craft ideas most days of the week.
"Yesterday I took a terracotta pot and painted a donkey on it," Tepley said Tuesday. "And last week ... we took two plant things and put them together and painted it and made a cow."
