In this time, unlike any other many Americans have seen before, the community is binding together to support its small businesses. The local Murfreesboro businesses are finding creative ways to make sales and stay afloat as customers follow the direction of officials to social-distance and mostly stay home to slow down the spread of coronavirus.

Small businesses in town are doing what they can to survive. It helps a lot if people shop at the small businesses for the items they sell rather than purchase those items from places like Walmart or Amazon. The large companies are less likely to fail during a disruption like this, but many small businesses can go under quickly under these circumstances.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee issued executive orders banning gatherings of 10 or more people, stating that gyms and fitness centers will be closed to the public, suspending dine-in service at restaurants and limiting non-emergency medical and dental procedures.

Ken Strode, co-owner of Hank’s Honky Tonk, said that COVID-19 has had a massive impact on his business, just as it has on so many others.

“We are trying to run on takeout. My employees essentially are unemployed—my servers, bartenders and most of my cooks. Fortunately, by doing the takeout, I can keep my primary two cooks. It is really devastating to the rest of the employee base. Hopefully they can get unemployment,” he said. “This impacts not just my employees, but all the vendors, and I have done music here almost every night of the week—[live music is] done. The musicians are hurting financially. The trickle-down effect is enormous.

“As with some other small businesses, I can go 30 days and survive this, but if it goes 60 or 90 days a lot of small businesses won’t be able to continue,” Strode said. “It’s really a dark time right now.”

Hank’s can now sell beer or a bottle of wine with a takeout meal.

“People really like our burgers, our catfish, and we do a deep-fried pork tenderloin that is very popular,” Strode said.

“Things are very tough right now,” said Noy Viravouth, who owns 219 Mixed Cuisine with her husband, Sam.

“At this time all I can do is leave everything minimal and low-profile,” she said. “We are doing carryout and delivery. During this time, I am going to remodel a section to make more private rooms. And also, a lot of customers ask for the big cakes like Gondolier used to carry, so I will try to bring those back. I hope by the time things get back to normal, I will have those cakes ready to serve to customers and that section we are remodeling will be very nice also.”

Christy Hackinson, co-owner of The Alley on Main, says their first concern is everyone’s safety, and they are really pushing their to-go menu, along with delivery and food truck sales.

“Our servers are driving for delivery orders and we also have a food truck that we are scheduling in neighborhoods,” she said. “So once people can get a head count of 50 people or more then we get them on the schedule. Then people can put their orders in ahead of time. We will bring our food truck out and cook for the whole neighborhood. They set up a time to pick up their order to get that fresh restaurant food but are able to take it home.

“Thank you to all the people who have continued to support us. A lot of regular guests have really shown their love and it means a lot to everybody,” Hackinson said.

Bonnie DeHoff Fakes, who owns DeHoff Christian Bookstore, expressed concern that “more people are going to go bankrupt from this than die from this.”

Although her family owns the land where the store sits, she says she is not prepared to put her personal savings into the business to cover bills for a long period of time, but neither does she want to see “a pandemic put an 81-year-old business out of business.”

Thor and Barb Rankins, owners of Thor’s Tennessee Furniture and Trains, are having a drive-thru rocker sale throughout the month of May.

The porch rockers that Thor’s has sold for 34 years are made just outside of Murfreesboro and are made from poplar, Tennessee’s state tree.

“People can call or come into the parking lot and honk their horn and we will load up their rockers or any other merchandise they need without them getting out of the car,” Thor Rankin said. “People are also getting into modeling right now, and we sell train track and accessories.”

Jennifer Durand, owner of The Nurture Nook Day Spa & Gift Shoppe, made this statement: “Job 34:4 says ‘Let us choose to use judgement: let us know among ourselves what is good.’ I believe it is vital not to be ruled by fear. [Giving in to] fear relinquishes our innate ability to determine what our inner wisdom is telling us. It can manifest emotional and physical stress, which can add discord and discomfort. These become the symptoms that need to be treated. However, if you go to the source of these issues and change your thinking, you will assuredly change your experience. Individually and collectively it is wise to not tune in to the minute-by-minute swirl of possible misinformation and negativity, which only increases alarm and adds stress. Rather, digest the information to determine what is true and what is not. Ultimately, isolation is not good for humanity or health. Unite together in the basic courtesies of life and connect with your friends, family and neighbors as best you can while supporting the government’s guidelines.

“Our spa is providing online comfort consultations, mindful moment practices for self care, as well as virtual skin care consultations. These services remind us of our true nature and enable you to meet the challenges of day-to-day life, as well as the unexpected, with a greater sense of ease and clarity.”

Don Robertson of Tri-Star Property Services, says this is a unique situation, but the basics of operating a business remain the same.

“Determine how your revenue is going to change,” he said. “If it’s going down and nothing can be changed, you look at what expenses can be cut. You look at the short term and long term and decide whether you will ride it out or move to a different opportunity.

“There are more government resources that might help bridge a gap,” Robertson said. “This is also an opportunity to help others, which creates goodwill.”

In the final afternoon of operation before voluntarily closing in late March, just before the order of mandated closure, Liquid Smoke co-owner Kelly LaMure said some of the bar’s loyal customers were enjoying their favorite craft beers there.

“We are going to be closed until whenever . . . we don’t know,” she said.  “We decided to close for the health of our employees and our customers. The majority of our customers are mid-30s to 80. We just thought that for the health of everybody this was the right thing to do.”

Woodsviking Barbershop co-owner Shawn Templeton said depending on how things go, if they have to take off work for two weeks or more, customers can still get their products online and buy from them to use their products at home.

“So if you see us go under, still buy our products,” he said.

“We are all being affected by this”, said Brittany Davidson, owner of The Exchange Boutique. “What is scary is we don’t know what is to come or when it is going to happen and when it will end. The community is so huge here that when they see trouble or distress, they do whatever they can to wrap their arms around things and support them. I have totally felt it and I know a lot of my neighbor businesses have felt it, too.”

Trendy Pieces and The Exchange Boutique owners say they are getting creative to reach their customers. Both owners are going to sites like Facebook and Instagram to show off what customers usually see when they walk into the boutiques.

“We are trying to stay calm, stay positive and take it one day at a time,” said Judy Goldie, co-owner of Trendy Pieces and Bella’s Boutique. “What has been awesome is our community has really been trying to find ways to support us. If people are staying home, we are trying to be creative. We are offering free shipping on $50 or more, we are also doing some curbside delivery. We are keeping this a day-by-day thing. We are praying for the best and have faith this is going to pass.”

Mayday Brewery owner Ozzy Nelson is not sure he can stay in business if things do not return to normal soon.

A large amount of to-go sales may help save Mayday, which Nelson fears could go under without its usual customer base coming into the bar.

“I love the people and want everyone to be safe,” Nelson said. “I don’t know if I have the resources to make it 90 days.”

Mayday will be open for takeout and curbside orders from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Nelson has recently rebranded a few of his beers. Boro Blonde has artwork of downtown Murfreesboro on its can and a can of Angry Redhead features artwork of the Mayday Brewery building.

Unlike many small businesses, The Grumpy Bookpeddler has not been legally barred from conducting its normal business operations. The Grumpy Bookpeddler sells used books and is a good place to find something to read, especially since the libraries are closed.

“We’ll stay open until the governor, city or the county shuts us down,” said Alan Wollard, owner of the bookstore. “We don’t have a drive-thru window or anything like that. I’ll keep my customers posted on Facebook if I have to close and when we can reopen. Business has slowed down some.”