Boxing gym, paint ‘n’ pour, other SC businesses were ‘essential’ during COVID shutdown
Robinson-Neal Boxing Academy features a couple of stationary bikes and treadmills, free weights along one wall and punching bags along the other.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the gym also would have been bustling with up to 30 to 40 people at once.
But for the month of April no boxing or training took place, drying up the gym’s income and forcing gym management to dip into savings to pay bills.
That’s because the gym was among the businesses Gov. Henry McMaster deemed “nonessential” and ordered closed in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has claimed the lives of more than 350 South Carolinians so far.
“It’s been a struggle with the gym. They still want rent,” said gym manager Dominic Robinson-Neal.
To alleviate the gym’s financial pressure, Robinson-Neal became one of nearly 6,500 applicants asking the state Department of Commerce if they could be exempted from the pandemic closure orders and reopen.
After getting a tip from a friend, Robinson-Neal filled out an online form earlier this month at the Department of Commerce, asking for clarification on whether they are defined as essential or nonessential and, in a matter of hours, was told the gym is “essential” and can reopen with restrictions.
“It’s a blessing to be able to reopen the gym, for not just me, but for the clientele and the people who come,” Robinson-Neal said.
All told, the gym is one of more than 5,400 S.C. businesses that have asked Commerce to clarify their status and been deemed “essential.” However, some businesses granted exemptions from the closure orders may not appear to provide essential goods or services such as lawn care companies, dance studios, workout facilities and even an adult store.
The gym received the OK from the state after assuring the Department of Commerce that workers and clients will regularly clean equipment, including before and after each use and at the beginning and end of the day, trainers will stay six feet away from clients, and the gym will operate at reduced capacity.
Now, the gym will at most have five people at one time. It operates expanded hours to allow for social distancing and one-on-one training.
Essential or not?
The businesses’ efforts to reopen came after McMaster moved in March and April to close businesses — from retail and restaurants, to close-contact businesses, such as gyms and salons, and entertainment venues — as the coronavirus and the resulting COVID-19 disease spread across the state.
The roughly 300 Richland County businesses that were told at certain points they could operate include a toy and game store, a music school, cleaning businesses and smoke shops, among others.
When the Department of Commerce told individual businesses they could stay open, it based its decisions off of what was specifically listed in the governor’s executive orders.
“If a business category was not specifically called out in an executive order, those businesses are/were able to continue normal operations,” Department of Commerce spokesperson Alex Clark wrote in an email to The State.
Among those businesses not specifically closed by McMaster’s orders was a sex toy store in Myrtle Beach.
“This business does not fall into any of the non-essential retail categories outlined in the executive order,” Clark said.
The ability to social distance also came into play when deeming a business as “essential,” such as the decision to allow tennis courts to operate, but not racquetball or squash courts.
“Squash/racquetball ball are in closer quarters than tennis where six feet social distancing space can be maintained,” Clark said.
The Vine Sip N’ Paint Studio, a Walterboro business that hosts parties where people can drink wine and make paintings, also found a way to continue operating even though their physical studio is closed.
“They are not providing services in studio; they assemble at-home art kits for kids and families to do for entertainment at home,” Clark said. “Customer orders are being delivered to their home and a few pickups.”
In Columbia, several gyms and fitness centers adjusted their operations in order to receive a blessing from the Department of Commerce to continue to operate.
Gyms that were deemed essential and allowed to operate in a limited fashion are places, such as KORE Wellness, that can offer one-on-one personal training or one on one physical therapy or rehab services, Clark said.
“In these cases, the only persons present in the gym at any given time would be one trainer or the therapist and one person being trained or the patient,” Clark said. “Restrictions involving shared equipment, social distancing and sanitizing practices must also be complied with fully.”
Even martial arts businesses were deemed essential.
“Karate was considered self-defense and included one-on-one instructional style courses as well as some virtual classes, which was considered to be different from regular sports,” Clark said.
Preparing to reopen
One of those martial businesses was the Samurai Karate Studio in Columbia, where owner Chris Feldt decided to provide virtual classes when school districts closed.
Feldt sought a clarification from the state to make sure he could set up a camera at the dojo where an instructor and camera operator could stream a class online where students can follow at home.
The virtual class allows students to see techniques in kicking, blocking and striking, and try to replicate them at home.
“I wanted to do what’s best for my students and their families and myself,” Feldt said. “The primary concern to me is the health of my students.”
Now that Feldt will be allowed to open on Monday, he still has to make a decision about whether to expand beyond virtual classes and have students inside his facility. He said he also must find out if students want to come back.
Feldt has cleaning products to sanitize and disinfect mats, which they do regularly, but he doesn’t “have an endless capacity of sanitizer and wipes,” he said.
When McMaster started to order the closure of close contact businesses, Salty’s Board Shop, a store that sells skate boards, surf boards and clothing, wanted clarification on whether it could stay open. Store owner Paul Goff had put in measures to prevent the spread of the virus in his shop, such as putting in sneeze guards around the store checkout and pushing social distancing within his store.
Salty’s ultimately was deemed essential on April 2, but they had to close a few days later when McMaster closed all retail clothing stores.
After that order was lifted, Salty’s allowable capacity was reduced to 15 people, which Goff tries to stay below. In addition he started doing curbside pickup for customers.
“We just want our customers and employees to be safe,” Goff said.
Future restrictions to be lifted
Going forward, a task force put together by the governor is developing guidelines for businesses to follow to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
Salons, gyms, tattoo parlors, massage therapists, and other close contact businesses received the OK to reopen starting Monday. McMaster is now considering when to lift restrictions on theaters, racetracks, concert venues, spectator sports and tourist attractions — places where people tend to congregate in crowds for long periods of time.
When those types of businesses will be allowed to open “will depend on the facts. We’re working on that right now,” McMaster said earlier in this week.
McMaster said there is no target date for when all restrictions would be lifted.
“I can assure you we are working as hard as we can and as quickly as we can gathering information and recommendations and facts and science from all concerned to unleash South Carolina’s great potential as soon as we quickly can and as safely as we can,” McMaster said.
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 11:48 AM.
