UPS Store #6690 341 N.W. 2nd Ave.
“As an individual, business owner, and as somebody who is looking at after a high-risk individual – my mother has been living with us for a little over a year, cancer survivor and Alzheimer’s – I am in favor of doing whatever it takes to keep our people as safe and healthy as we can,” said Jim Landmark, owner of Lawton’s UPS Store.
“Protecting our staff is another huge issue for us. We have a very busy store. It is an essential business, so we don’t shut down if things get bad. So, if one of my staff gets sick, the business will be impacted by that.”
“We have 5,000 customers on average per month that come through our doors and our staff has been honesty concerned.
“We’ve got a couple of them who don’t get to work in the store at all; they work remotely, so that they’re protected. Because, again, immune issues. We’ve got one who works in the store that has asthma and is at-risk.
“Seeing a customer who walks through the door with a mask on is somebody we view as taking precautions and taking care of themselves.
We honestly had decided that if the city actually didn’t implement masks, we were going to do it anyway. We’re a locally owned business that can make a decision and mandate that.
“It’s left to little businesses to decide whether they’re doing that or not. A number of UPSs had moved that way early on. We held back from doing that. But just seeing the numbers, and seeing what was going on, honestly, hearing things like where the county Health folks are having trouble tracking down and tracing people who’ve tested positive and actually not willing to self-quarantine, those are scary things. So, for all of those reasons, we were absolutely in favor of it.”
Gill’s Framing and Photography 415 S.W. C Ave.
“Personally, I’m one of the people who sent in notes to all our councilmen and mayor from the first moment it was being considered,” said Kris Gill, owner of Gill’s Framing and Photography.
“I am positive that we should be doing masking. I’m one of the businesses that, as soon as we reopened our business after the quarantine, I had a sign on our door the whole time saying, ‘Please mask up. If you don’t have a mask with you, we have masks for you.’ Also, when you come in, and we’re picking out framing, we may be gloving you and me.
“What we’re doing, we’re not just protecting you or me, we’re protecting the next people coming in. And I have not had any trouble at all with people masking up right away.”
Viridian Coffee 343 N.W. 2nd St.
“Viridian Coffee is in support of our public officials and their desire to keep the public safe,” said Shay Hayes, owner of Viridian Coffee’s three locations, with another location to be opening soon. “We are not going to violate any laws that are in place, put out by our local or state officials. We will abide by the laws they put out anytime.
“Viridian Coffee’s position on that is that the public mask mandate, outside of what is regulated by the law, is an individual’s choice and responsibility. And we, here at Viridian Coffee are going to support people’s individual choice.”
“We have a complete understanding of how difficult this environment is for all of our citizens in our communities. Viridian Coffee and other businesses are struggling to adequately navigate through this. We appreciate the public’s patience as we figure out these things. But one of our objectives is to be able to provide a sense of normalcy to individuals’ lives through our business so they can have a piece of what they had pre-COVID. Our objective is truly to be able to support our community and support the individuals as we go through this difficult time for all of us.”
Lawton Axe Throwing 1008 W. Gore Blvd.
“It’s not that I’m against masks, it’s just that I believe that it’s government overreach,” said Daniel Dittmeyer, proprietor of Lawton Axe Throwing. “I really think that people should be responsible for themselves.
Edward’s Men’s Wear 405 S.W. C Ave.
“This is a first for everybody,” said Eddie Hamra, proprietor of Edward’s Men’s Wear. “I feel like the masking is something we need to do. I think, if it’s not that, then, at some point, we will be shut down again. So, if we can take time to wear the mask, get used to the mask, then maybe we can keep this stuff from spreading more.
“In addition, we have the barrier in place at the register. We also have hand wipes and hand sanitizer throughout the store.”