The
THURSDAY May 21, 2020
The Marbut Report: Eviction suspensions nearing end PAGE 8
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CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
THE MATHIS REPORT
BACK TO WORK Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
From barbers to entertainment venues to offices, how area businesses are reopening.
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JACKSONVILLE
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
Bass Pro Shops still in for Durbin Park East
St. Johns County lifestyle and retail project slowed by COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo by Katie Garwood
Customers at Roosters Men’s Grooming Center at 2000 Hendricks Ave. in San Marco got their hair cut May 20. The shop reopened May 12.
ROOSTERS MEN’S GROOMING CENTER
Barbers, stylists return to serve 298 customers in five days Pete Helow closed his high-end Roosters Men’s Grooming Center in San Marco on March 23 and reopened May 12, with all five stylists and barbers returning and a sixth joining the team next week. While he remains closed temporarily on Sundays and Mondays, the first week of reopening ended with 298 customers over five days. That was a cut above previous traffic. Before the pandemic, Helow said “a
typical good week” was 270-290 customers over seven days. But it wasn’t a good look for the bottom line. “We had zero sales for six weeks,” he said. Helow received a city and VyStar Credit Union COVID-19 Community Relief Loan on April 28 and a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan May 7. “This pandemic is a wake-up call for government,” Helow said. “Every entity was ill-prepared for a
total shutdown of our economy. From Florida’s broken unemployment system to the SBA’s inability to handle the volume of loan requests, the excessive delays caused numerous hardships,.” Helow said his business will survive because he had sufficient capital set aside to weather the mandatory shutdown. “Unfortunately, many others did not.” KAREN BRUNE MATHIS
MORE STORIES ABOUT HOW AREA BUSINESSES ARE REOPENING, PAGE 4
COVID-19 has delayed deals at Durbin Park East, the second phase to The Pavilion at Durbin Park in northern St. Johns County where Bass Pro Shops intends to open. “We are on a complete hold until we can get back to normal so that we can resume negotiations,” said developer Frank Gatlin, CEO of Gatlin Development Co., on May 19. Gatlin is developing the project with landowner Gate Petroleum Co. Both companies are based in Jacksonville. “Bass Pro was ready to go, but now they’ve got stores they have to reopen and they are not ready to focus on and complete our deal until they have all of their stores open,” Gatlin said. “Everyone needs time now to get through this pandemic and proceed from there,” he said. Durbin Park is 1,600 acres primarily between Florida 9B and Interstate 95 and south of Race Track Road. SEE MATHIS, PAGE 3
THE BASCH REPORT
Low fuel demand hurts Patriot Transportation Plus: Harte Hanks exiting direct mail. PAGE 7 VOLUME 107, NO. 132 • TWO SECTIONS