WACO — The slow of patrons at local small businesses has shop owners readdressing how they operate.
Many stores did not have takeout or delivery orders before the changes, but now they have found ways to continue operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But small business owners now ask for your support.
Nelson Rue has been the Owner of Schmaltz’s Sandwich Shops for over 40 years, and he explained to 25 News he was speechless after hearing the announcement for the public to shelter in place.
“It went from being open full-time one day to be in carry out the next,“ explained Rue.
He typically serves 500 sandwiches a day from his two locations.
"Our sales are obviously down, and we don’t want this to go on forever but we’re trying to cope with it," he said.
When asked how the public could help the many small businesses across the region, with tears in his eyes, Rue said "I’m hurting for the other restaurants right now, they're really struggling, we are lucky in the fact that we do a lot of takeout already, a lot of places don’t."
Over at Heritage Creamery, a small locally owned and operated store opened a couple years ago, General Manager Scott Spain-Smith said that with Baylor students practically gone and tourism down, its now that small businesses need local patronage the most.
“Heritage is a business that’s really built on a three legged tripod, one of those legs being tourists, the magnolia crowd, the other leg being Baylor, which is right across the street, but we’ve lost those two legs, they’re gone, and we're left as a mono pod standing on Waco," said Scott-Spain.
"People have been coming out showing love, sharing what they can with us, but we need people to keep coming out," he said.
Many business now offer either pick-up or delivery options, and businesses implore you to take the incentive to reach out to them and see how they can still serve you.
“Go to your favorite coffee shop, go to Common Grounds, go to Pinewood, go to your favorite barbecue place, go to Guess, go to Helberg, go to Honkytonk, go to those places, get food to go, get gift cards from them, we’ve all got to come together,“ Scott-Smith said.
To stay in touch with local businesses, you can stay connected to them via social media or their websites. You can also join our Facebook Group for supporting small businesses, We're Open - Central Texas.
At this timet, Heritage Creamery is offering a special on gift cards. With the purchase of a gift card with the value of $50, $100, or $150 - they will add half of the gift cards amount for free to the card, as a thank you.
At this time, both Schmaltz's Sandwich Shops and Heritage Creamery are working with customers to provide their product to the public.
