'So excited': East Bay outdoor restaurants, salon reopen for business as California's stay-at-home order lifts
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- As soon as he got a hint that the state's stay-at-home order was about to be lifted, Primo's Pizzeria and Pub owner Drew Nichols and his staff sprung action, redeploying his TVs and outdoor seating and within hours, customers began to arrive.
"We got here this morning, started dusting everything off, tables and tents," said Nichols. "We really haven't done anything, other that people honking, driving by, knowing that we're open, and they started coming in. Tonight will definitely be crazy I'm sure of that."
The Insignia Salon in Walnut Creek was also quick to reopen with a handful of clients this morning, who were anxious to get on with services they've had to put off for more than a month.
"We are so excited, so excited," said stylist Regina Muslimova, "because its been five months that we were closed and the rest of it was at 25% capacity, so it was a tough year for all of us."
"It's good for the businesses to be open," said client Brupi Gill. "Otherwise, we can't be locked down forever."
But for many restaurants that abruptly dismantled their tents last month, remobilizing their outdoor dining operations on such short notice is a huge challenge, like for the Walnut Creek Yacht Club, which laid off 20 people and stacked up the tables and chairs weeks ago.
"I had to let go of a lot of staff in December, had to contact them and see who's ready to come back," explained owner Kevin Weinberg. "We gotta get a schedule together. I gotta start bringing in supplies. But we will be working as hard as we can to get some outdoor seating, hopefully before this pineapple express shuts it all down anyway."
Weather aside, at least now there's something for Weinberg and his customers to look forward to.
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