What It’s Like To Be A Retail Business Owner, And Employee, In The Age Of COVID-19

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As retail businesses re-open throughout Michigan, small business owners are being asked to walk a fine line:  Attracting as many customers as they can, while also enforcing new state and local rules meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

We talked to two small business owners about how they’re navigating this new world. We also spoke to a number of grocery store workers from across the state, all of them union members in UFCW Local 951. 

Here’s what they had to say.

Julie Everitt: “They want to stay safe, and also want to protect others in our community.”

Photo Credit Paulette Parker

Julie Everitt, right, and sister Wendy Bacon run Whistle Stop Hobby & Toy. Their parents founded the business in St. Clair Shores 50 years ago.

As retail businesses re-open throughout Michigan, small business owners are being asked to walk a fine line: Attracting as many customers as they can, while also enforcing new state and local rules meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

We talked to two small business owners about how they’re navigating this new world. We also spoke to a number of grocery store workers from across the state, all of them union members in UFCW Local 951. 

Here’s what they had to say.

Julie Everitt: “They want to stay safe and also want to protect others in our community.”

Whistle Stop Hobby and Toy has been a fixture in St. Clair Shores, a suburb on the far east side of metro Detroit, for 50 years this year.

Julie Everitt’s parents started the business. She now owns and runs it with her sister, Wendy Bacon.

And it’s a kids’ wonderland. Shelves stacked high with puzzles, Legos, outdoor toys, and all sorts of other fun stuff for kids — and, let’s be honest, for their parents too.

Everitt said they’re deeply rooted here, and the community’s health and safety are important to them.

“It’s super important for us to protect everybody — our employees, and especially our customers as well,” Everitt said. “So we do ask that everybody wears a mask when they come in.”

Everitt said that like many small businesses, they had to shut their doors when the COVID-19 pandemic first struck back in March. Then they’ve slowly moved toward re-opening. For the past month and a half, they’ve been doing curbside service. And then they recently started doing in-store shopping by appointment.

Just this past week, they fully opened their doors again — for ten customers at a time. Everitt said that so far, she hasn’t encountered anyone who’s balked at any of the safety guidelines, including wearing a mask.

“They want to stay safe, and also want to protect others in our community,” Everitt said. “So I feel like wearing a mask hasn’t been a problem at all.”

Everitt said that if they do run into a customer who resists, she’s not quite sure how they would handle it. She’s hoping customers will just follow her and her employees’ example.

“I don’t feel that I can force people to wear it,” said Everitt.

“You know what I mean? And nor would I want to do that. It’s a fine line. I don’t know what to do with it yet. I guess we’ll kind of see as it goes along.”

Photo Credit Paulette Parker 

Isle 3 has puzzles, educational items, and games

By: Sarah Cwiek & Dustin Dwyer