Bars open for Labor Day weekend

Beach bars got the green light to reopen for Labor Day weekend, but the summer's last official hurrah may end with a whimper as COVID-19 restrictions continue to limit crowds.

“It's very concerning, but we'll see how Labor Day weekend goes,” said Carol Everhart, president and chief executive officer for the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce.

On Sept. 1, Gov. John Carney announced that all the beach bars that were closed following June COVID-19 outbreaks would be allowed to resume seating Friday, Sept. 4. Caveats to reopening include social distancing between bar patrons, who must all order food. Reservations are also required.

“The focus as we approach the Labor Day weekend is really being smart and not having a big picnic with 30 or 40 or 50 people that could become a big spreader of COVID-19,” Carney said.

Crowd limits, however, have had a detrimental effect on the beach economy.

For August, Everhart said the only significant improvements she has seen are in hotel/motel occupancy rates, and those have been for Saturday nights only. Retail business had a small uptick in August, she said.

Restaurants that have offered takeout or were able to expand with outdoor seating fared better than those that did not, Everhart said, but limited capacities took a toll on overall restaurant business.

“[Gov. Carney] doesn't want the congregating … I think it helps, but it's not a solution,” she said about his latest change.

Since June 15, Delaware has been in Phase 2 of reopening, which allows restaurants to open to 60 percent of their fire code capacity. Strict social distancing of eight feet between tables, however, has limited actual capacity. Carney closed beach-area bars before July 4, citing a lack of face coverings and social distancing by the bar crowd.

Ramsey Schrader, a part owner of Arena's restaurants, said a strong takeout customer base has helped his restaurant chain, which has seven locations across the state. The restaurant is back to full staff with help from Paycheck Protection Program money earlier this summer, he said, but total revenues are drastically down.

“We're not going to see that again,” Schrader said about business lost during the COVID shutdown. “It's gone for good.”

Schrader said Carney's latest decision allowing bars to reopen probably won't make much difference to their bottom line because of strict social distancing restrictions attached. Arena's already brought high-top tables up to its bar space for more seating, he said, so opening up bar seating probably won't make much of a difference.

“A lot of these changes are superficial,” he said. “The change between 30 and 60 percent was negligible given the fact that our table spacing has to be a certain distance. We struggled with the 30 percent, and when it switched to 60 percent it didn't give us any more seating.”

Everhart said negligible is a good word to describe the bar reopenings. “The fear factor is really how much impact this will have, and how many [businesses] will recover,” she said.

Carney, whose last mention of a Phase 3 reopening was June 25, and then only to say it would be delayed, said the Labor Day weekend will be a big test of Delaware's reopening plan.

“If we can get over the Labor Day weekend successfully without a lot of COVID-19 spread, then we're really going to be set up real well,” he said.