He spent thousands to keep his shop safe from COVID. But it closed—and bills are due.
As coronavirus approached Mecklenburg County, small business owners all over the city had to make plans for an uncertain future. Here’s one local business owner’s story:
Jason Baker, owner of Canvas Tattoo and Art Gallery, saw the writing on the wall as COVID-19 arrived in Charlotte. On March 17, bars and restaurant dining rooms were ordered closed. “It seemed inevitable, while some businesses were making a great effort to operate responsibly, others were packing folks in like sardines and posting about it on social media,” Baker said. “I remember speaking with our general manager and agreeing: all businesses deemed non-essential would likely soon be closed.
“As we awaited guidance, we drastically changed our already tight operating procedures,” he said.
Canvas Tattoo has two locations in NoDa, both in former mill houses on Davidson Street, just a few doors apart from each other. The team procured three hand-washing stations placed at outside entry doors with hand-washing instructions. Masks were given to clients and artists and every touch surface was cleaned after use: door handles, wash stations, bathroom fixtures, water dispensers, sink handles and tables.
Baker also implemented an atomizer misting process to treat larger surfaces including Canvas Tattoo’s outdoor seating area, port-a-potties and bathroom surfaces, using a cleaning agent that is aerosolized more easily and is able to work its way into harder-to-clean areas, such as behind a toilet bowl.
Total cost in supplies: $3,380.
Tattoo shops ordered closed
Baker said he received guidance from the North Carolina Department of Health on Friday, March 20: tattoo shops could continue operating. On the same day, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania ordered barbershops, beauty and nail salons and tattoo parlors in their states to temporarily close.
“A few shops had decided to suspend operations. Although very few cases had been reported in Mecklenburg County at the time, we felt a moral dilemma numerous times that week. We only saw a few cancellations. We met as a team and discussed operations. We have two artists with immunocompromised partners and mutually agreed it was best for them to suspend tattooing.
“A future closure weighed heavily on our spirits as we closed down Sunday night (March 22). We could feel it in the air.”
When Mecklenburg County issued a stay-at-home order beginning at 8 a.m. on March 26 for all non-essential business, it included all hair salons, massage services, nail salons — and tattoo parlors.
Rent is due, even during a pandemic
And now, under a statewide stay-at-home order through the end of the month, Baker and the rest of his team wait.
“There hasn’t been much help at all for small business owners. We understand why we are closed. What didn’t get closed was our bills. I haven’t heard of a single case of rent relief for business owners. My landlords both requested full payments,” he said.
April rent paid: $8,113.
“I asked a State Senator why they haven’t suspended rent and mortgage payment, His reply: ‘We don’t have the power to do it. It would cause issues as many of them have bank payments to make themselves.’ In disbelief, I replied, ‘You have the ability to order businesses closed, but not that business? We can cut off revenue, but not that revenue.’”
“Shutting down people’s businesses, (and again I understand 100% why it was necessary), but not shutting down their bills, is atrocious,” Baker said.
Big box stores still open while small businesses close
Small businesses have been ordered to serve the public interest, he said. “And we understand why, but I’m not seeing a fair shouldering of the burden, even from citizens.
“Meanwhile, we see pictures of crowded big box stores, walk by outdoor parties on evening neighborhood walks, and it seems that half of the businesses are somehow essential. Today, a contractor friend sent a picture of a crowded Home Depot, with customers in a long queue. I asked for him to take a picture of carts, and you guessed it: they were filled with mulch and outdoor plants.
“Home Depot plants and mulch? Birthday parties? ABC Stores? A construction site of the 25th condo to be built in NoDa? I’ll submit our shop is much, much safer than any of those environments. I’d guarantee it. We followed the order. It seems like many are not. We are doing our part.”
It’s devastating financially to be closed, Baker said. Businesses will close permanently, should this extend another month or months, he warned.
“That’s the reality we are all facing. We miss our customers, we miss laughing together, we miss serving our community — and yes, we miss our income. No lifelines are reaching much of small business America. We have to get back to work as soon as possible. We’ve been left with little choice. Please do your part. Redefine essential business activities. We don’t need to be building condos. We can miss a birthday party. I am missing my own writing this, quarantined at home. The spring planting can wait. Lock it down so we can all open as soon as possible.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 5:40 AM.
