Small enterprise homeowners concern the 3-week ban on indoor eating places will deliver much less pedestrian visitors – CBS Pittsburgh

SEWICKLEY, PA (KDKA) – With new restrictions on the way, concerns of small business owners are mounting. In small towns, these businesses rely on pedestrian traffic, mostly from restaurants, and many tell us they barely hold on.

“It’s been a trickle sometimes, and sometimes a godsend, so we just go roller coaster like any other small business,” said Paula Johnston.

Johnston is a small business owner in Beaver. She said with every announcement by the state, downtown pedestrian traffic is dwindling.

“People are afraid to come out. They follow it and we get it, but we really do – as small business owners we rely on this pedestrian traffic and hope it goes on, ”said Johnston.

But Johnston is afraid it won’t. There are 15 restaurants downtown that bring people to the area, but now those doors are closing.

“It’s been scary times, it was really challenging,” said Johnston.

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Another small business district facing the same challenges is Sewickley.

“I’ve been here for 31 years. It’s sad to see places go, but how much can you take before you say, ‘I can’t do this anymore? ‘The bills are piling up,’ said Janet Daugherty.

Daugherty owns a small shop in Sewickley.

“It’s a small town, the chamber depends on fundraisers. We lost Sewickley Unleashed, that’s the dogs, we lost the wine walk, the chocolate walk, the soup crawling, the night walks and the harvest festival, ”Daugherty said.

Daugherty told KDKA that the recent mitigation efforts are a blow to small businesses, although their doors may remain open.

“It’s a town where people will say,” I don’t wear this item, but I’ll send you to a store that does, “Daughterty said.

She fears that this could mean the end of many small businesses in the region.

“If we don’t have it, what do we have? The United States is made up of small businesses, which is what kept this country going, ”Daugherty said.

Entrepreneurs hope people will help the restaurants pick them up and still stop by and support them too.