Baltimore: Businesses in Baltimore city of US have been worst hit by riots. The sales have paralyzed while the stores have to shut down by 10 PM, mandatorily. Cops of National Guard are patrolling the city constantly.
Owners repairing the damaged stores after riots
Stuggy’s Chef Jason Cofield says he’s feeling the impact.
JASON COFIELD, CHEF AT STUGGY’S, SAYS, “We’ll do a nice lunch crowd but after 3 it’s like, one person comes in, every hour, and normally it’s like 10-20 people coming in. We have a constant steady flow coming in, and it’s killing us.”
National Guard troops now patrol the city — still on edge from Monday’s violence that left buildings torched and stores looted.
At Max’s Taphouse, owner Ron Furman remains worried about the livelihood and safety of his employees.
RON FURMAN, OWNER, MAX’S TAPHOUSE SAYS, “Most of our business is from six ‘o’ clock on. We have to close by 8:30 so that they can get home before curfew, so for them it’s been really devastating.”
When Furman closes up shop, he too boards up… with the help of employee Dana Norris, who says he’s fearful of how long business could be affected.
DANA NORRIS, EMPLOYEE, MAX’S TAPHOUSE SAYS, “I am going to tighten up my belt for this month and hopefully in the next few weeks things will turn around and we can get back to our summer business even though I feel a lot of the business is going to get killed this summer just because of the publicity we have been getting in the city.”
The city has largely followed the curfew put in place … but whether businesses can survive its impact is less clear.
Ventuno/ANI