Page 10 - The Wayne Dispatch

Pandemic, Continued from page 4 for the whole month of April. Owner car count was down maybe 40%.”
Ray Krull says they didn’t have to The business has tried to go touch-
to be open “through the good, the close down, but there was a situation less, utilizing a drop box so people
bad and the ugly” owner Sam Yono with a customer who had been diag- would not have to come into the
said. nosed with COVID-19. “By law, we small waiting area. A shield was in-
The biggest challenge at North- could have been open, but we closed stalled at the front counter and dis-
side involved getting help to work. because we had a scare,” said Ray. infecting and cleaning has increased.
“That’s basically about all the chal- He said nobody got infected because Work is done by appointment only.
lenges we’ve had,” said Sam. He said they had been using precautions, but Matt says he’s “very cognizant of
the plumbing section is staffed by to be on the safe side, staff at this what’s going on out there (in the wait-
older retirees who didn’t feel com- family-owned business quarantined ing area). I try to never have more
fortable working during the major Northside Hardware continues to stock themselves. than one person in my waiting room,
health scare. With COVID-19 num- their shelves with essential houshold Ray allows only one customer in preferably no one.”
bers trending down now, those em- items. the office at a time. Employees wipe The guys wear rubber gloves and
ployees are starting to come back to down the cars before working on use seat covers and steering wheel
work. when they are available and he can them. They also wear masks. Other covers before working on cars. They
Sam says Northside has taken all get them. As far as anything else than that, it is business as usual. wash their hands often and there are
the necessary steps to follow the goes, “we’ve been in business so long The biggest challenge Ray has hand sanitizers all around the build-
state and government guidelines. and built a reputation with vendors, faced has not been the ability to get ing. “We’ve been fortunate not to have
There are plexiglass barriers at the not only locally and across the coun- the auto supplies and parts he needs. any issues,” said Matt.
checkouts, signs up advising to wear try, they make things accessible to It is the amount of time it takes to get Matt says delivery of auto parts
masks, and customers have been of- us,” said Sam. them. “Deliveries are not as quick as has slowed way down because sup-
fered gloves if they don’t have them Sam wants to thank all their cus- they used to be because there are ply places are having a hard time
when they walk in. Other than that, tomers for being patient and under- still people off in the delivery system with drivers right now. Getting sup-
business has “been about the same, standing. “We thank everybody who because they make more money stay- plies, he said, has slowed down from
to be honest with you.” supports us through this whole or- ing at home.” 15 minutes to several hours.
Sam did say he was unable to get deal. We thank everyone for being pa- “We were considered an essential Matt attributes business being
sanitizing sprays as whatever the tient with us through this whole business, so we were able to stay down 40% due to many of their older
companies are producing are going ordeal. We can’t wait to go back to open,” said Matt Gietzen, owner of clientele doing the right thing by not
to first responders. He has been able normal.” Henry’s Service Center. going out. “That has affected us a
to stock hand sanitizers and wipes K&S Auto did close their doors “We were affected quite a bit. Our lot,” he said.

10 · June 2020 · The Wayne Dispatch