As the number of COVID-19 cases climbs, many small business owners are looking for ways to reassure customers they’re doing what they can to prevent the spread of the virus.
At Bucky Moonshine’s in Dallas, the owners call in a crew for a periodic deep clean.
“We do a medical-grade disinfection of all the surface areas within that facility, then we come back and apply a long-term antimicrobial product,” said Mark Williams with Sterilfy Microbial Control Systems.
It’s a step restaurant owner Bucky Pugh added to the protocol amid the rising number of cases in the pandemic.
“I just felt like I needed to get to another level of clean, give people another reason to understand that we take safety incredibly seriously,” Pugh said.
Pugh declined to say what the extra cleaning cost but said it was worth it the price.
“I have to take care of an 84-year-old mother, I have to take care of the fact that I’m in a high-risk group, I have to take care of customers of mine that are in a high-risk group,” Pugh said.
The restaurant took the additional step of closing for two weeks before reopening last Tuesday. Pugh said he didn’t have any employees or customers test positive for COVID-19. He said he wanted to take a step back as the number of cases rose and give himself and staff a break.
“That’s the whole point. I don’t want to have that scare,” Pugh said.
It’s just one example of small businesses learning to adapt as the pandemic shows no sign of slowing down in North Texas.
The Texas Restaurant Association said it was working on an effort to help reassure customers.
It’s launching the Texas Restaurant Promise Certification Program – a course for restaurant owners and staff to learn protocols during a pandemic.
The program includes secret inspections and restaurants that pass will receive a decal to display.
“This is one step that helps the restaurants and then they get that decal that says they’re Texas Restaurant Promise certified and verified,” said TRA Chief Strategy and Operations Officer Joe Monastero. “These are business owners and employees who are already experts in health and safety sanitization."
