Valley businesses grapple with COVID-19 fallout
By Eric Valentine
Even before the first cases of the coronavirus in Blaine County had been confirmed, the peaceful confines of this mountain-encircled valley could not firewall the nationwide panic that saw store shelves depleted, airports congested, and a plethora of press releases and memes streamed across social media screens.
And then, on Friday, it was official: Idaho had its first confirmed case of COVID-19. By Sunday, it was also official, Blaine County had two. As it has been widely reported, the news led to closures and cancellations of every major event in the Valley, including the Sun Valley Film Festival that was slated to start March 18 and the Sun Valley Resort ski season that typically wraps up in mid to late spring.
Those are just two examples of how the financial lifeblood of a resort town got sent to limbo. What comes next—not so much in terms of the virus, but rather the economy—has Valley residents pretty riled up.
“Everyone is in a panic and supplies are low,” Atkinsons’ store manager Tom Pyle said from his Ketchum location. “Hopefully, in a week or two, supply can catch up with demand. Right now, we have only 10 percent of the product we should have available.”
Pyle explained that the distributors simply cannot get enough trucks on the road to meet the sudden spike of demand.
“If you order 1,000 cases of something, you might get 500,” Pyle said.
The panic was enough to trigger a Monday morning press release titled “Slow It Down, Do Your Part” from Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw. In it, Bradshaw said, “I urge everyone to consider their actions, exposure risk and contagion risk from the perspective of the larger public health impact of a rapid spread of COVID-19, versus a more gradual spread. Medical resources in Blaine County have a better chance of meeting the needs of our valley if the rate of spread is gradual and not rapid. We all can help slow it down. Our efforts in this regard will save lives.”
Bradshaw went on to offer a task list residents could take on to help get through these challenging times. The list included these requests:
Non-essential businesses should limit operations.
Restaurants to close or restrict to take-out only.
Shop thoughtfully. Please leave something on the shelves for others.
Keep your distance but be there to support your neighbor.
Monitor your health.
Be kind to those around you—let us know when you have seen an act of kindness with the hashtag #KetchumKind.
One industry staying open for now—at least in Idaho—is food services, specifically restaurants, clubs, and bars. Most already run on razor-thin profit margins and are operated by employees who live off tips and work paycheck to paycheck. With the newfound practice of social-distancing, a night out drinking, eating and dancing qualifies as the opposite. Jenni Conrad, owner and director of operations for The Mint in Hailey, says her establishment is doing everything it can to keep things going.
“We’re kind of lucky we have a big restaurant space, so we can keep diners pretty far apart,” Conrad said. “We’re cleaning every 30 minutes. We’re doing curbside takeout. We’re doing what we can. Our staff is putting on a good face and, fortunately, we’ve had no one sick here. But a half-empty restaurant isn’t what a staff wants to see.”
Conrad confirmed that all concerts and events at The Mint have been cancelled through March, but plans are to keep the restaurant going as long as possible and with a likely reduction in hours of operation.
Conrad said other outside-the-box solutions were being floated, too—for instance, offering gift certificates so that people could make purchases now but patronize an establishment later. In theory, that could help some establishments cover costs while shutdowns are being enacted.
“I’ve got three concerts I’m issuing refunds for right now,” Conrad said. “Every little bit helps.”