<p><strong>T</strong>he streets in Downtown Franklin were mostly empty Wednesday, and small business owners fear it may stay that way long after the novel coronavirus clears, if more government restrictions to the way they operate — or don’t — pile on.</p><p>Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday announced that restaurants and bars should close their dining rooms and move to a carryout-only model. This was in response to a growing public health emergency surrounding the coronavirus, a respiratory illness that has infected as many as 39 people across the state, including three in Johnson County.</p><p>Local small business owners don’t know how long their businesses can survive without dine-in customers.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>Sherry Young owns Court Street Cafe in Franklin. On Monday, the cafe, along with all other restaurants and bars across the state, were forced to close their dining rooms. The governor said Monday all bars and restaurants must close to dine-in customers and switch to a carryout-only model.</p><p>Court Street Cafe plans to continue carryout and delivery of its full menu, for now. But the business’s future may be grim. The restaurant, which relies heavily on dine-in customers, had a few carryout orders Tuesday, but it may not be enough to keep its doors open long term, Young said.</p><p>“If it’s months, I bet you’re looking at most of these places probably won’t still be here — the small businesses,” she said.</p><p>Right now, the streets of Franklin are emptier than normal. Local restaurants remain open, but with their dining room lights shut off and chairs put up, sending a message that customers can’t stay if they come inside.</p><p>This is the new reality for local restaurants, bars and cafes in Johnson County, as they’re forced to rely on a service style that typically doesn’t make up most of their sales. Most of the businesses cater to people who sit down to eat.</p><p>It’s “survival of the fittest” for local businesses, said Evan Watkins, owner of Benjamin’s Coffeehouse, also in Franklin.</p><p>“There’s always going to be bills to pay,” he said. “Without having that constant income that we’re used to, we’re going to dial back a bit.”</p><p>Benjamin’s closed for a couple days after the state’s announcement to evaluate how best to handle moving to a carryout-only model. They plan to offer carryout and delivery orders as they did before the shutdown, and have hired an additional delivery driver.</p><p>Sales will decrease, and it will be odd to not have customers inside, sipping on coffees and sodas and engaging in conversation, he said. However, Benjamin’s has survived a lot of changes over the years, and Watkins doesn’t expect this will be detrimental to his business, he said.</p><p>“I can’t be like, ‘Oh sorry, governor, I’ve got to run my business,’” Watkins said. “We’re just going to have to change things up and keep doing our thing.”</p><p>All restaurants can do is take this new normal day by day, Young said.</p><p>“As long as we can do it one day at a time, we’ll take it and see what comes,” she said.</p><p>At Ann’s Restaurant in Franklin, which is traditionally packed during breakfast and lunch, closed its doors this week, following the state’s announcement. They plan to offer carryout and delivery orders starting Friday. Restaurant leaders are prepared to see sales decrease, and there is still uncertainty about what exactly this will mean for the small business, said Christian Stout, assistant manager at Ann’s.</p><p>“We rely mainly on our in-house business,” he said. “But we’re going to take it one day at a time.”</p><p>Coffeehouse Five, which just opened a new Franklin location, launched a new online ordering system Tuesday, and plans to use it for most orders. Customers are still welcome inside the shop to place orders, but they can’t stay.</p><p>But not every small business in town can rely on innovative ways to sell food, such as local bars. At Bojak’s Bar and Grille in Franklin, about 80% of sales are alcohol, owner Austin Gore said. Take-out alcohol is not an option in Indiana, so bar leaders have to rethink sales.</p><p>“Obviously no business inside is an issue — a drastic issue,” Gore said.</p><p>For the time being, Bojak’s will offer carry-out food from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., but Gore said he doesn’t know if selling just food would be worth staying open right now, since they are a bar.</p><p>“We have great food, (but) we’re not known for our food, so I don’t know how well it will do,” he said. “It’s an effort to give our employees hours.”</p><p>In addition to shrinking sales, restaurants will also have to lay off employees without dine-in service. Nearly 238,000 people in Indiana are employed in the food service business as of March, according to data from STATS Indiana. Last year, 247,000 people worked in food service.</p><p>For Young at Court Street Cafe, she’s gone from 15 daily employees to three, and that could still change. At Greek’s Pizzerias in Franklin and Greenwood, owner Jason Tapp said he’s going to try his best to train bartenders and servers to do pizza carryout and delivery, otherwise they won’t have a job to do.</p><p>“I’m trying to re-purpose them just to provide hours to those who need it,” Tapp said. “It’s something I really have no control over as far as allowing them hours.”</p><p>Not every restaurant is in the same situation, though. Luckily, Gore said, in Bojak’s case, they’ve had good business over the years, so he’s not that worried about finding money to pay employees who can’t work their normal hours anymore. Even though closing the inside of the bar is a drastic change, he doesn’t think the business is in trouble.</p><p>“It’s not going to be a game-ender for us, but I can imagine it is for a lot of people across the state,” Gore said.</p><p>Back at Greek’s, Tapp said these restrictions will negatively affect business. Like all other restaurants, Greek’s will continue to offer carryout and delivery options to places nearby.</p><p>Still, Tapp expects sales will be cut in half, he said.</p><p>“The Franklin location especially is a big draw for the dine-in,” he said. “That’s a big hit.”</p><p>Most local restaurants are asking people to buy gift cards as a way to drive up sales, even in the event that businesses are forced to close temporarily.</p><p>But the best way to help is to eat local and order carryout while the businesses are still open, Young said.</p><p>“If they’re going to eat anyway and are tired of eating at home … if they could shop small and help keep the businesses open, that would be great,” Young said.</p>
