Though much of the country remains locked down amid the coronavirus pandemic, black markets for food, drink, haircuts, and other goods are flourishing.
Business owners are looking for a lifeline to stay open and are taking desperate measures when it seems that all financial avenues have been closed to them. And they’re finding a receptive market in the public, which has been forced inside at this point for more than a month and a half, denied creature comforts they once took for granted.
From being rejected by financial institutions for federal loans intended to help small businesses during the pandemic to not being eligible for unemployment because they may be considered sole proprietors, reopening their businesses against the state mandates became a last resort for many of them.
It’s part of a broader pushback against the restrictions, which raises questions about how long civil society can continue to function under the circumstances. Even Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, who has instituted some of the nation’s toughest restrictions, has addressed the pushback.
“People want to move on” from many parts of New York being shuttered for the past two months in an effort to slow the spread of the disease, Cuomo said Monday.
Rick Savage, a Bethel, Maine, restaurant owner, flouted his state’s stay-at-home order and opened his restaurant to dine-in customers. However, as a result of his defiance, the state swooped in and revoked his state health license, which is necessary to run his business, and issued Savage a summons.
In Roxboro, North Carolina, hair salon owner Jessica Wesley reopened her business on the sly in late March, but her grand reopening was foiled after just two hours when law enforcement shut her business down again.
“I can’t express to you how much money I’ve lost and how much it’s put me behind,” Wesley told Spectrum News. “They’re older people. They’re sickly people who come in here simply for their hygiene,” she added.
In Madison, Mississippi, one barbershop owner defied the state’s shutdown, saying it was unfair that some businesses could reopen at this time while his and others could not.
“We have got a lot of single people who want to go to work. They have got children. They have no other income. There are no employees that have been forced to go to work. These are all the employees here that want to work,” barbershop owner Mike Land told WAPT.
The order, issued by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, says most retailers can reopen with safety provisions, but barbershops and salons must stay closed.
In Wickenburg, Arizona, police busted the Horseshoe Diner and Bedoian’s Bakery and Bistro for reopening last week. In Yuma, the owner of The Barbershop posted that officers walked in and told him he was violating state orders.
Jennifer Anderson, owner of Vivaldi Salon Suites in Peoria, Arizona, plans to violate the state’s shutdown order on Monday and reopen her hair salon.
“I’m not trying to be disobedient,” Anderson told the Arizona Republic. “I don’t know the governor personally and have nothing negative to say about him.”
However, Anderson’s landlord was still demanding rent and she was denied for unemployment. She had already been denied a federal assistance loan.
“I have to work,” she said.
