SAN DIEGO — The banner atop North Park’s Rudford’s Restaurant reads, “Stand up small business.”
The word defy is written just below.
Defy is exactly what father-and-son team Jeff and Nicholas Kacha planned to do over the weekend - until the community got word. They planned to continue serving food indoors even though the county on Saturday moved into the state’s most strict tier of coronavirus restrictions - the purple tier. But they were faced with threats of broken windows, picketing and lost customers.
“It's been a nightmare that just keeps getting worse,” Jeff Kacha said.
Redfords, which is not serving indoors, laid off 10 staffers at the news. Sales are down 40 percent. And the 60 turkeys they ordered for Thanksgiving may now not sell.
Gov. Newsom says he remains concerned over the recent increase in the rate of coronavirus cases. The state on Monday moved 41 of the state's 58 counties into the purple tier.
And even restaurants that look full outside say it hurts. At Puesto in La Jolla, the patio was busy all weekend, but co-founder Eric Adler wasn't celebrating
“It looked full and it was full but that still translates to reduced revenue of around 30 percent for us,” he said.
But other businesses weren't hit as hard.
Point Loma Sports Club already had the bulk of its equipment outside under tents from earlier in the outbreak. When the county entered the purple tier, general manager Bryan Welch moved even more out for the members.
“We may do this again two more times, four more times,” he said. "We're trying not to be shocked by it, we're just trying to adapt, and if you can adapt, we just feel like we can thrive.”
The challenges, however, could grow as the weather cools into the winter months.