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'I want to move past it' | Greensboro businesses recover from coronavirus, protests, and curfews

Businesses have begun to reopen and repair after riots destroyed many downtown businesses.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Greensboro businesses have been through a lot these past three months.

The coronavirus closed most of them, forcing business to come to a halt.

Once they started reopening and some went back to work, they closed again when protests over George Floyd's death started.

Gate City Candy Company owner Daniel Weatherington took the boards down from his business this week. 

There are some businesses downtown who aren’t ready to take the plywood turned art - down from their storefronts.

"We've got mixed emotions about it. Some think they should stay up a little longer others want to get back to business as normal," Weatherington said.  "That's the category I fall under."

Please support the Retail Alliance Downtown in raising funds to assi... st the businesses affected by the riots and looting. Some of the businesses the funds will go to did not have insurance, or insurance will not cover the damage.

Weatherington's business was vandalized, two weeks ago.

His windows were repaired Tuesday. 

RELATED: VIDEO: Gate City Candy Company one of many downtown businesses vandalized

"I got a business downtown to have a store front so people can see in and see what I've got inside," Weatherington said. "My glass is fixed I want to move past it a little bit."

Rocks Hair Shop, a business on Elm Street took their boards down and so did Crafted the Art of the Taco.

Owner of Crafted Kris Fuller said they took their plywood down as part of their reopening.

"The way our store front is set up is we have garage doors which allows us to have a patio area,” Fuller said. “In order for that to happen the panels had to come down.”

The restaurant was closed for inside dining up until this week because of coronavirus and the city-wide curfew.

RELATED: Downtown Greensboro quiet after 8 p.m. curfew lifted; small businesses react to week of protests

"We hope something wouldn't happen to our store front, but should it happen after this is said and done we understand that store fronts can be replaced and that's a lesser concern than the greater things going on,” Fuller said.

Some of the artwork along downtown buildings are markers of history.

The George Floyd section of the mural outside Crafted is being donated to the African American Museum of History and Culture in D.C.

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RELATED: Police arrest Greensboro Civil Rights Museum vandalism suspect

RELATED: George Floyd mural defaced in downtown Greensboro

RELATED: Greensboro Chamber of Commerce Connects businesses with local suppliers to safely reopen

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