AUSTIN, Texas -- Bars and restaurants are working to adapt their operations after the mayor of Austin directed all dining areas to shut down, and it's forced some local business owners to make some heartbreaking decisions.
- Order shut down in-restaurant dining
- Prohibition Creamery attempting to keep full-time staff on
- Other employees furloughed
“Ice cream is such a celebratory thing, it’s comfort food," said Laura Aidan, owner of Prohibition Creamery.
It’s been four years since Aidan decided to leave a job in tech to open her own ice cream shop.
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“I opened the shop in order to put a smile on people’s faces and to bring people happiness," said Aidan.
But it’s not just any other ice cream shop. Prohibition Creamery mixes ice cream with booze.
“My husband asked me to make him a bourbon ice cream, and this light-bulb moment where like, it went off, it was so good. And so then I was like, well what else can I put in ice cream?" said Aidan.
But when Austin Mayor Steve Adler announced restrictions on public dining to slow the spread of coronavirus, Laura realized she would have to temporarily close her doors.
Laura Aidan appears inside Prohibition Creamery in Austin, Texas, in this image from March 18, 2020. (Niki Griswold/Spectrum News)
“The financial impact of closing for seven weeks… suddenly you’re doing the math on, you know, your full team, on top of all the other fixed costs of keeping this location," said Aidan.
Despite the cost of rent, property taxes, and insurance, she knew she wanted to do everything she could to keep her full-time staff.
“I’m choosing to just pay out of my own pocket to keep them because they have always been here for us, and I don’t know, you know, what I would do without them," said Aidan.
But she also had to make some hard decisions, like furloughing the rest of her employees.
“I mean it’s definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do," said Aidan. "It’s more devastating for them, I think, you know, than for me, and I’m worried about all my team because they’re like my family.”
She said it was a heartbreaking choice.
“I just hope that there’s some kind of help that’s offered to them to get through this time, and that we all have restaurants, you know, for them to come back to when this is all over," said Aidan.
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With South By Southwest’s cancellation and these new restrictions, Aidan says the shop is losing about a sixth of its yearly income, and she’s just trying to keep it afloat.
“I’m just a sole small business owner. I don’t have investors, I don’t have a chain, you know, to have the support," said Aidan.
Prohibition Creamery will still be open on the weekends for takeout and delivery only.
“We’re just trying to have a positive attitude where we’re gonna… we're just going to find ways to come out of this strong and hope that everyone, you know, has a place after this," said Aidan.