GREENSBORO, N.C. — Governor Cooper's extension on Phase 2 of reopening expires in two weeks but that's a long time for many Triad businesses still closed under the plan.
"None of us ever thought we would be sitting here in August," Lilly Merga said.
Merga is a general manager for Safari Nation--a children's amusement center with locations in Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem.
Slides, jungle gyms and inflatable jump courses have sat empty for five months. Merga said the summer is usually Safari Nation's busy season.
"We lost some employees. We lost them because they couldn't just sit and wait so they'd rather go find something else," Merga said.
The waiting wears on other businesses going without a steady source of revenue. Staff is laid off at Fair Witness Cocktail Bar in Winston-Salem. Co-owner Blake Stewart said the biggest fear is that reopening keeps getting delayed.
"It's not getting easier day by day," Stewart said, "If we were to open at the end of the year we will have probably had to feed the baby out of our own savings a little bit just to keep paying our rent and bills. The things that doesn't slow down just because you're closed."
Both Merga and Stewart are hopeful that the state will move to Phase three next week but said safety has to remain the top priority.
Phase two restrictions could expire on September 11 at the earliest.
