{"id":4802,"date":"2021-03-08T12:33:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T16:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=4802"},"modified":"2021-03-11T20:35:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T00:35:32","slug":"the-pandemic-is-being-controlled-but-the-damage-still-isnt-over-for-some-in-metro-detroits-restaurant-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/the-pandemic-is-being-controlled-but-the-damage-still-isnt-over-for-some-in-metro-detroits-restaurant-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pandemic is being controlled, but the damage still isn\u2019t over for some in Metro Detroit\u2019s restaurant industry."},"content":{"rendered":"

By Simon Albaugh \u2013 Yemeni American News<\/p>\n

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. \u2013 Since the past year, vaccination efforts have ramped up to inoculate the most vulnerable populations in the state of Michigan. Combined with the declining cases and death rate, and it\u2019s no surprise that for a lot of divisions of government, the end of the pandemic is foreseeable. However, the restaurant industry is still far from the light at the end of the tunnel, and can still clearly remember the uncertainty that came with the first orders from Governor Gretchen Whitmer.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Gov. Whitmer loosened restrictions on the restaurant industry. Now restaurants can stay open at 50% capacity, along with a number of other directives from the Department of Health and Human Services that open the state\u2019s economy just a little more.s<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder this revised order, restaurants and bars are allowed to be at 50% capacity,\u201d said Elizabeth Hertel, Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. \u201cTables must be six feet apart, with no more than six people per table, and there is an 11:00pm curfew.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while these offer more freedom for restaurants, some restaurants are struggling to make up for the losses of the past year.<\/p>\n

At the first sign of cases in Michigan, Gov. Whitmer\u2019s orders to contain the spread of the Novel Coronavirus were among the most extreme in the country. Although independent research conducted by Oxford University<\/a><\/span> shows that as many as 10,000 people were saved as a result of the Governor\u2019s intervention, the beginning of the pandemic in Michigan was marked by more uncertainty than confidence.<\/p>\n

Among the first industries that were affected by the lockdown measures was the restaurant and hospitality industry. Many of the people working within the industry first reported feeling overwhelmed by the shifting of orders coming from Lansing.<\/p>\n

In a previous story for the Yemeni American News<\/a>,<\/span> those involved with a few restaurants around Hamtramck were anxious for the future. Back when all restaurants\u2019 business were restricted to carry-out and delivery services, owners and workers felt unsettled about the future of their business.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s struggling,\u201d said Denis Ekic, a relative of the owner of Balkan House in Hamtramck, Mich.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness has been down substantially, but we are trying to still keep everything going. We still want to serve our customers in the safest way possible, we\u2019re offering carry outs, we\u2019re offering deliveries. You know, whatever it takes to help out and still be part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justin Winslow, President and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association hopes that the new orders for the restaurant industry \u201crepresent a paradigm shift\u201d in how the state responds to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hopeful that this DHHS order represents a paradigm shift in the administration\u2019s overall approach to the hospitality industry, accepting that dramatically reduced hospitalization rates and increased vaccine distribution mean our most vulnerable populations are protected and that reopening should advance in a timely manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are disappointed about the length of the order, given the fragile state of the hospitality industry, we are committed to working toward a collaborative and consistent \u2013 emphasis on consistent \u2013 progress toward the full reintegration of the industry as Michigan moves more fully into a new phase of the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some restaurants survived, while communities helped others thrive.<\/p>\n

Nick Lulgiuraj is one of two brothers who own Maine Street Restaurant in Hamtramck. His, and his brother\u2019s restaurant struggled for much of the pandemic over what he says was a number of issues with unemployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, so many people are hurting, and people are dying, and workers want to get back to work,\u201d Lulgiuraj said. \u201cBut the ones that are collecting unemployment don’t want to go back to work. And the thing I had to deal with when the pandemic started, was the people that were working were making less money than the people that weren’t working.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lulgiuraj said that this resulted in a high employee turnover, forcing the employees who stayed to take on multiple roles in the restaurant. He even needed to advertise that he was looking for workers \u201cfor the first time in twenty years.\u201d<\/p>\n

For much of the pandemic, when dine-in service was permitted by the State of Michigan, Nick says that the restaurant was already staying open at 50% capacity. Otherwise, he says, the restaurant would have been closed months ago.<\/p>\n

Another restaurant just around the corner of Maine Street not only survived, but was able to thrive for a lot of the lockdown. Balkan House experienced a number of lucky breaks throughout the pandemic that allowed them to have consistent orders at both their Hamtramck and Ferndale locations, namely an advertising executive paying for a billboard<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beginning of pandemic was really hard on us,\u201d said Juma Ekic, the owner of Balkan House. \u201cYou know, we have employees, and, you know, it was really hard for me, because they all have families, kids. And all of a sudden, over a period of two days we were shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Juma Ekic, owner of Balkan House, was able to not only survive the pandemic, but thrive thanks to help from the community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn’t know what to do, you know. So we stayed open for the whole pandemic, we tried to stay busy. And after about a month, in about April, we got promoted, we were in the top 10 restaurants in Detroit. We had the Chevy dealer sponsor us, so we had a great summer. During the pandemic, really we weren’t hurt that much.<\/p>\n

While some restaurants were able to more easily stay open than others, the estimates of how many restaurants closed won\u2019t be coming in for some time. Many entrepreneurs around Hamtramck know of one or two people who lost their restaurant as a result of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cYep, I have relatives who closed their doors,\u201d Lulgiuraj said. \u201cI know one in downtown at a restaurant, like a Coney Island, but they couldn’t get any help from the government. Him and his family worked, and they still couldn’t make ends meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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