Here’s Why More Kalamazooans Going Out To Eat May Not Be Enough

Last week, even before the governor lifted the restrictions for everyone, FireKeepers announced it would be opening on Monday.  This gave me and many more hope that soon all the restaurants, bars and retail would be able to open with safety measures in place.

My wife Karla and I determined the other day that we actually haven't been out to eat or drink since late February when we went to Toronto for a long weekend.  Since then, we have lamented that it will be nice to go out and eat again.  This, of course, is a first world problem.

Well come Monday, bars and restaurants can open and even though we can wait, we're headed to FireKeepers Casino Hotel tonight for dinner at Nibi; one of our favorite places in the world.  Because it's FireKeepers, we have no qualms about our safety or restrictions because we know how on top of things they are.

The question has been asked for months that once everything opens up, will the customers come back and support the local businesses?  I think they will but that may not be enough.

I saw in an article on fox17online.com that the little talked about problem may have to do with initial limited capacity which may force businesses to not open up again.  As one business owner pointed out: "It is not worth it for us for many reasons," said Chef Jenna Arcidiacono. "One being that we have 100% of our rent due. We have 100% of our staff to pay. So if we are only at 50%, that means only 50% of our income is coming."

I, for one, didn't think of that and I'm not sure what we can do about it.  The only thing I can think of is we need to make sure we do all we can to support our local businesses as often as possible and hope they can ride it out.