Daily Sitka Sentinel

Reopen? Sitka Merchants’ Opinions Differ

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

The state guidelines for reopening retail businesses include requirements for social distancing, hygiene, staffing and operations, and cleaning and disinfecting.

The requirements for reopening are under State Mandate 16: Phase 1 of the “Reopen Alaska Responsibly Plan.” The attachment related to reopening retail businesses (Attachment E) was announced last Wednesday and went into effect Friday.

Other attachments relate to restaurants, personal care services, and non-essential “public facing” businesses.

A number of retail businesses in Sitka stayed open when the pandemic hit Alaska, with curtailed services such as limiting the number of customers on site, or taking orders and offering curbside pickup and delivery.

Attachment E of State Mandate 16 relates to the “reopening” of these and other businesses that closed entirely. There are rules on social distancing, limits on the number of customers on the premises, and a limit of one per household per visit.

Another requirement is for cloth face coverings to be worn by all employees and patrons.

There is also a requirement for posting a COVID Mitigation plan – and a clear statement that anyone with symptoms not be allowed to enter the store. Training is required for employees of the mitigation plan, and restrictions on employees with symptoms.

The requirements refer at several points to Centers for Disease Control guidelines.

Section II of the Attachment E says:

“Retail businesses are encouraged to follow best practices:

a. Entryway, curbside, and home delivery.

b. Telephone and online ordering for contactless pickup and delivery.

c. Cashless and receiptless transactions.”

The entire attachment is available at:

https://gov.alaska.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/0425-COVID-MANDATE-016-Attachment-E-Retail-Businesses.pdf

Sitka businessman Jim Michener, who co-owns Alaska Pure Sea Salt Company, said his business is open but the doors to his Lincoln Street shop will remain closed, as they have been for more than a month.

“Public safety is our biggest concern,” he said. “We’re trying to focus on social media and online orders as a way to get revenue in the door.”

That includes taking orders over the phone, curbside pickup, and delivery service.

As soon as the governor released Mandate 16, Michener and his wife reviewed the provisions as it applied to their business, but said the prospect of opening the doors has not appealed to them. 

“It wouldn’t be enough to keep us afloat, so why endanger people for a little more money?” he said. 

Jill Scheidt, owner of Abby’s Reflection – Apparel & Quiltworks, said she wasn’t aware of Attachment E that went into effect Friday. But she has been following the guidelines, with the door locked and a limit on customers in the shop at one time.

“Most of it is just common sense: wear a mask, and social distancing,” she said.

With the volunteer mask-making efforts going on, she said, customers have intermittently come into the store – with a mask on – to pick out fabric and materials. Scheidt said she has found Sitkans to be cognizant of the concerns about COVID, and respectful of others.

“People in Sitka have been incredibly aware,” she said. “People knock on the door, and stand back while I open it. People have been incredibly appropriate. Everyone has taken this to heart. It’s been easy for us in Sitka to follow this mandate.”