“It’s putting us in the firing line”: Some small business owners worry about Gov. Greg Abbott lifting coronavirus restrictions – By Mitchell Ferman, Duncan Agnews, Megan Menchaca (Texas Tribune) / Mar 2 2021
Abbott’s order will leave it to business owners to decide whether to require customers wear masks inside their establishments. Some say they will keep coronavirus restrictions in place, but some business owners worry those decisions could anger potential customers.
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Danette’s Urban Oasis has tried to live up to its name during the pandemic. Massages, manicures and pedicures were all close-contact risks Danette Wicker chose to take when reopening her boutique shop in Fort Worth early last summer.
A one-woman operation, Wicker said her job will be more difficult now that Gov. Greg Abbott will no longer require Texans to wear face masks starting March 10, against the advice of health experts.
“As a small business owner, it’s putting us in the firing line where you have to make the best decision for you and your business and you’re going to be fighting people who are literally celebrating in the streets,” Wicker, 53, said in an interview. “Here in Fort Worth people are having temper tantrums, knocking stuff off counters. People have had to be physically removed from businesses around here. I’m not one to be played with. You do anything in my personal business, I will not allow that foolishness.”
Abbott’s order will leave it to business owners to decide whether to require customers wear masks inside their establishments. That comes after Abbott already started pushing state legislators for a law providing civil protections for companies against coronavirus-related lawsuits. And experts say loosening coronavirus restrictions may do little to help the state’s uneven economic recovery as long as the threat of exposure to the virus persists.
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