University of Oregon law student Dru Lechert said the Chaiyo Thai Food Truck he manages has lately been earning around $500 to $600 a day, as opposed to the $1,000 to $2,000 range it was raking in prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lechert opted to work without pay for about six to eight weeks, he said, to ease the financial burden on his coworkers. He said he paid his month’s rent in advance and has been eating food from his work.
“A lot of my other staff have, like, families and kids, and I don’t have kids right now,” he said, “so I’m just trying to make the best of the situation and give my staff the appropriate time that they need off and whatnot too.”
“I’m trying to be a good manager,” Lechert said, “because everybody’s going through it right now, and so my biggest thing is people who need a little bit more than I do can have it first.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing state and federal precautions have prompted much of the general public to put their lives on hold. In turn, the drastic changes have put a number of local businesses in jeopardy and have led them to take their own preventative measures.
Lechert said the owner of Chaiyo Thai Food Truck is “fanatic” about preventing the spread of COVID-19, ordering hand sanitizers, soap, gloves and face masks. Lechert wears gloves and a mask and washes his hands every time he touches money or cooks, he said. He also manages the Thai restaurant Sweet Basil Express one day a week and, while he does not wear a mask there because he does not cook, he said the other employees do.
Cheba Hut owner Joshua Donaldson said sales started dropping as soon as UO announced that spring term classes would be remote, and the restaurant “took a couple-of-grand-hit.” He said it soon began earning half as much as usual and he “saw a huge impact” following Gov. Kate Brown’s Mar. 23 order prohibiting non-essential gatherings.
“We’re trying not to lay anyone off or have to go on unemployment,” Donaldson said. “I’m able to keep all my employees right now and give them enough hours to support themselves during this time.”
Donaldson said Cheba Hut now closes at 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends, both two hours earlier than before the COVID-19 pandemic. He said staff are working to implement a curbside station for an employee to serve pickup orders near the front door, with a face mask and hand sanitizer readily available.
Track Town Pizza owner Tim Hill said the establishment has been receiving enough delivery orders “to keep the doors open for now” but said that the crisis has been “pretty devastating.” While he has been able to keep most full-time employees, Hill said, “We’ve totally eliminated hours for 15 employees for now, so yeah, it’s horrible.”
Hill, who purchased Track Town Pizza with his business partner in February, said, “We don’t have a ton of cash flow savings saved up yet, so we’re kind of just going day-to-day and trying to keep up on bills and go from there.”
While Hill said staff already held meetings regarding cleanliness and hand-washing, they are now “going around every hour with wipes and bleach rags” wiping off phones and keyboards.
He started closing the restaurant at 10 p.m. — two hours earlier than usual — after noticing that customers were “nonexistent” past that point. He said that Track Town Pizza has expanded its delivery area to the Thurston area in Springfield and further west in North Eugene, and will likely move to River Road next.
Not all local businesses are experiencing a drop in sales, though, with some grocery stores struggling to keep up with the demand from customers.
Market of Choice raised its hourly pay for employees on March 19 — retroactive to March 15 — “until this extraordinary workload is reduced,” CEO Rick Wright said in a blog post.
“It’s just a matter of recognizing that our teammates are working really hard, coming in every day to make sure that our stores are stocked, our customers are being taken care of, Manager of Customer Experience Amy Delaney said in an interview with the Emerald. “Obviously, we’re an industry that is a necessary industry as people are wanting to get food and supplies. So we have to come to work and make sure that we can supply what we can.”
Market of Choice also reduced its regular store hours to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and designated a “Senior Shopping Hour” for customers aged 60 and over from 7 to 8 a.m, its website states.
“Our supplies can’t keep up with the demand,” Delaney said. She also said that certain products, such as hand sanitizer and toilet paper, “are just impossible to get immediately.”
“We’ve had to limit certain products for how many people can buy and we’re really, really encouraging our customers to not hoard or stock up,” she said. “There’s not a single person on the planet that’s not impacted by this.”
Pat Farr, the Lane County commissioner for North Eugene, said, “As far as the city is concerned, I don’t know there’s a great deal that they can do to provide resources to businesses. One thing that we can do — and we’ve already done this as a county — is we can make certain that the state is relaxing rules on unemployment.”
The state’s Employment Department released a list of temporary rules regarding unemployment insurance benefits for people unable to work due to “COVID-19 related situations.” Such circumstances include a person being ill with COVID-19, being potentially exposed to COVID-19 and under a mandatory quarantine or following recommendations from their health care provider or public health officials “to self-quarantine due to possible risk of exposure to, or spread of” COVID-19, according to the ruleset.
Regarding how the city and county can support businesses, Farr said, “If a business is closed, like the restaurants are closed, I don’t know what we could possibly do other than ease that burden for the people who are laid off.” He said, “We can help [businesses] through the crisis,” and pointed to alternative means of serving food that restaurants are offering.
“We don’t have huge funds to pipeline into it,” he said. “We’re hoping and expecting that we’ll see some from the federal government spread across the nation that will help businesses ease the, you know, ease the crunch that they’re going to be under.
Eugene Communications and Engagement Manager Lindsay Selser said, “Many of the resources available to businesses are through state and federal agencies.” The city developed a “COVID-19 Resources for Businesses” webpage to provide such information and links to the relevant federal or state agencies, which are updating websites daily, she said.
Selser said Eugene is working with businesses that have active loans through the city’s business loan program to assess their needs and offer to defer payments.
Eugene’s Parking Services now allows restaurants and bars to request one or two parking spaces in front of their business to offer free parking for carryout orders and delivery companies. Businesses can email the city to request the free service, she said.
Eugene also partnered with Lane County, Springfield and Community Lending Works to create a Small Business Emergency Loan Fund, she said, to help “local businesses weather this storm.” The funds, which Community Lending Works will manage, are currently limited and “will be evaluated ongoing,” she said, and businesses may apply now.
“Eligible businesses include those with 20 FTE or fewer as of the end of 2019 and located within Lane County,” she said.
Donaldson, who has owned Cheba Hut for about five years, said the developing pandemic has brought to light “just how quickly things can change and just how quickly, as a business, you have to make sure that you’re on top of everything, ensuring the safety of everyone.”
“We have a pretty strong brand, pretty, pretty amazing sandwiches, I’m not gonna lie,” Donaldson said. “But we’re also very community-based and just here for the people, so we take a lot of time listening to people around town, seeing how things are going and reacting accordingly.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is a developing story. Follow the Emerald’s website for the latest coverage.
