Small businesses greatly affected by shut-down order

Editor’s Note: Below is a letter sent by Mike Walters, owner of Larry Walters’ Furniture, to Rick Brown, president of Alabama Retail Association.  It is printed here with Walters’ permission. 

Rick,

I am terribly concerned that the Governor’s order to close a subjective list of “non-essential” businesses, lasting a full three weeks, will adversely affect some of these type businesses as opposed to other, non-affected businesses.

I have three furniture stores in Demopolis, Linden and Thomasville, Alabama that will now have to be closed to the public for three weeks.

One of our hopes was that we would be able to reap some benefit from the federal government’s direct payment to individuals of $1,200 each plus payments of $500 for each dependent child.  These payments are reportedly expected to be available within two weeks. Under Gov. Ivey’s order, many businesses will be closed for maybe a full week after this money is deposited into people’s accounts.

This will put these, closed by mandate, businesses at a huge disadvantage to the businesses that are being allowed to remain open in the competition for these government/taxpayer dollars.

I believe that the Governor’s mandate has chosen winners and losers in this competition for this large influx of consumer spending.

This money is being sent out to stimulate the economy. Regretfully for businesses singled out by the governor as non-essential, this money will disproportionately stimulate open businesses as opposed to closed businesses.

There is a segment of our society that spends everything they get as soon as they get it. For this segment, this “free money” will largely be spent before my business is legally allowed to reopen.

I appreciate the intent of trying to get people to stay at home, get out and mingle less, and thereby reduce the transmission from person to person of this terrible virus. But I feel that some businesses, like car dealers and Wal-Mart for example, will be able to “make hay while the sun shines” and capture more than their fair share of these dollars. (Like they don’t already have many advantages over small businesses!)

Our business has been in business for 74 years and has competed for business in every environment since WWII…until now. Now, we are being forced to sit on the sideline and watch our competing businesses have a full week head start on competing for these consumer dollars.

I hope you can bring this disparity to the attention of our State representatives and the Governor, and hopefully get this “penalty box” closure time reduced from three weeks down to two so that we may reopen in time to compete for these dollars and to save our businesses.

Thank you,

Mike Walters – President
Larry Walters Furniture