GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Businesses in Guilford County and Greensboro are adjusting their policies after the Guilford County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to immediately end the mask mandate.
“We're happy because in general that will make more people come out,” said Easa Hanhan, the owner of Jerusalem Market on Elm in Greensboro. “Of course safety is always a number one thing here especially during all this. We just want this to kind of get done and over with even if we had to wear the mask a little bit longer.”
Hanhan said they will no longer require their customers to where masks. Neither will Tate Street Coffee House in Greensboro.
“You want to follow the science in and you want to follow the science out, but also make decisions that are best for you and your business and making sure that your customers and your staff that you work with very closely are comfortable with what you’re doing,” said Matthew Russ, the owner of Tate Street Coffee House.
Russ said they will continue to have barriers between the staff and customers at the service counter.
“It’s been back-and-forth so many times that we are just cautiously optimistic,” Russ said.
Across the street on Tate Street, the owner of New York Pizza said he’s also ready for the mandate to end.
“I want people to be happy again,” said owner Leondardo Gramisci. “I want people to live normal.”
Gramisci said while they won’t require customers to wear masks, they can if it makes them more comfortable.
The owner of Savor the Moment bakery told News 2 Wednesday that they want to continue masking in their store.
“My mom is in remission for cancer, she also works in our bakery. So for us it’s a priority to have a mask mandate in our store,” said the bakery’s owner Tanya Dickens.
Russ at Tate Street Coffee House said this change is hopefully a sign of better things to come, but they are staying ready in case things change again.
“The only thing we’ve learned is that the only thing constant is that there’s nothing constant,” Russ said.
