By Michael Wood
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. The Coronavirus that has devastated America the past few weeks has done particular harm to what many would describe as the most fun street in Fayetteville, Dickson St.. Instead of the sometimes hundreds of people clogging the streets on the weekends, going from bar to bar with friends, today the street is practically deserted.
This began on March 19th, when Arkansas senator Asa Hutchinson announced that dine in eating was to be closed to the public immediately through April 17th. Hutchinson also encouraged people to work from home as much as possible. In addition to this, the college moved online, and the next week, sent home all students living in the dorms.
In a matter of weeks, the student and local business that many of the bars rely on had disappeared. This meant bars and restaurants were forced to switch to only take out or delivery services. This led to mass layoffs and even closing of several bars on Dickson St.
Jody Thornton, owner of JJ’s Grill, announced on Facebook that he had been forced to lay off over 400 of his 450 employees. He called it “easily the hardest day of my professional career.”
Reese Roberts, the general manager of Bordinos on Dickson St., said that they hoped to be able to stay open, despite having to lay off most of the staff. However, Roberts said in an email that “It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to temporarily close our doors beginning this Sunday, April 5th. We have appreciated every phone call and message of encouragement from the community. It has been amazing to watch our community pull together and lift each other up during this scary and difficult time.”
It’s not just the local restaurants being impacted by the coronavirus, even the bigger chains are feeling a strain as well. Ramey Frazier, a driver for Jimmy John’s, said “I thought in the coming weeks, this is really going to start going down and I’m not going be making many tips because people are going start losing their jobs, they’re going to stop ordering out, they’re going to realize they can’t spend as much and that’s what’s happened, in the last week I’ve made the least amount of tips ever for working here.”
Unfortunately, some businesses on Dickson St. have not been able to stay open even this long, but are still trying to do whatever is possible to support their staff. Places like George’s Majestic Lounge and Cannibal and Craft have both set up GoFundMe accounts, with promises that all donations will go to helping their staff during this time.
While small businesses in the area are struggling, others are thriving during the coronavirus and may even be able to help with the spike in unemployment. Walmart has announced plans to hire thousands of employees to help meet the demand of stores like them as people strip shelves of essentials across America.
The bars and restaurants on Dickson St. may be suffering right now but they all promised to come back when this is over, better than ever.