‘You can only go so long’
John Dickson is just waiting for the word. The owner and operator of Lawton’s BackPorch DraftHouse is looking forward to the day he can reopen his restaurants and get back to work.
However, Dickson also wants to make sure that when he is able to reopen his doors and offer full service, it’s done the right way. With the damage the coronavirus has done across Oklahoma and the country, assuring his customers they will be safe is his top priority.
“You know, hopefully, it’s sooner than later,” Dickson said. “But you know at the same time you want to be safe. You don’t want to ramp this thing back up to 100 percent and see all these cases jump back up. I think they’re doing a fairly good job. You’re damned if you do; you’re damned if you don’t in those positions for these guys. Obviously, for a business owner, you’re not making any income if you’re not open. You can only go so long.”
Along with his two Lawton franchises, Dickson also owns two more restaurants in Texas. All had to shut down dine-in services in mid-March due to the spread of COVID-19. “We were actually in Las Vegas and we started hearing about all this stuff. It was kind of moving a little bit closer to home and they started talking about cutting our occupancy in half,” Dickson said. “That’s actually the first thing that they told us was we were going to have to operate at 50 percent occupancy. Within the next day or two they had completely changed their mind on that.”
Lawton Mayor Stan Booker ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down and restaurants like the BackPorch could only provide take-out meals. Because of that, Dickson had to make some tough decisions. “I had over 230 employees between four locations and you know, obviously that’s the first thing that goes through your mind because you see the repercussions that are coming,” Dickson said. “Because if we have nobody coming in the doors, we don’t need anybody else. Initially, that’s kind of where you go to the worst-case scenario in your mind. We had to eventually lay off 230 people.” Dickson had to shut down the original BackPorch Drafthouse at 1925 W. Gore completely. His second location, BackPorch DraftHouse West at 5762-6070 NW Cache Rd., is currently set up for takeout only, five days a week.
While it’s been tough on Dickson, he knows that the situation has been exasperating for his employees. “At the end of the day these guys that are cooking the food and the girls that are running it out, they’re the ones that are affected by this,” Dickson said. “We are too as owners. We’re bleeding money every day. But these guys, some of these kids still don’t have their unemployment yet. They’re going on a month with no money. They’re going to get the stimulus checks and we’re starting to see that now. But the employee aspect is probably the hardest part for us just seeing how it’s really impacted everybody.”
Dickson may not have to wait too much longer before he can reopen his doors again. Last week, Mayor Booker allowed some businesses to reopen. They include golf courses, disc golf courses, furniture stores and clothing stores. And they must have approved plans on how they will maintain safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
On Friday, Gov. Kevin Stitt followed the path set by President Donald Trump. Stitt said he is eyeing May 1 methodical reopening of the state, and it will be done in phases.
There is no exact word on when restaurants and bars will be allowed to start back up. However, the belief seems to be when they do get the word it will be under strict guidelines, such as limiting the number of customers inside.
Dickson said he has no problem following any regulations the city or state tells him he needs to in order to open back up. He just wants a heads up on what they will be beforehand. Dickson said from what he has been hearing from the city government, there will be steps restaurants have to take before they can open.
For Dickson, some steps may include having to use disposable menus and utensils. “All those guys down there with the mayor, they are coming up with some proactive steps we can take to get ready for this,” Dickson said. “Instead of just dropping it on us one day saying ‘hey, you guys can open up Friday, but you have to have these two weeks of stuff done first.”
Regardless of when or in what form Dickson is allowed to open his doors for normal business, the Lawton native said he will be ready. “I think we should hear something hopefully by the end of the month or at least the game plan on how to do this,” Dickson said. “In the Texas stores I know they’re working on it. Wichita Falls, they called yesterday, and they are working on trying to get 25 to 40 percent occupancy hopefully in the next 10 to 15 days. That’s what they’re working on. Nothing is set in stone though, but everybody is making the most of the move forward.”
Getting his businesses to reopen is only part of the battle Dickson faces. His top priority will be dispelling any fears his potential customers will have about going to his establishments and getting the coronavirus. “I think everybody’s really learned a lot about their business and about everything from what’s happening,” Dickson said.
“We put things into place that we won’t go back on. We’ve always been very clean, but you know hand sanitizer stations, we didn’t have those throughout the restaurant. We will now. We’re going to take the necessary steps that we have to maintain the safety of the public and we want them to be reassured.”
Dickson knows those first few weeks after the restaurants are allowed to reopen will be difficult to get customers through those front doors.
“Everybody is going to be scared when they do start coming back,” Dickson said. “I don’t see this thing coming back any time in the next five to six months the way it was right before it stopped. Get- ting the safety of the public and the perception of them being safe, how long does that take? Nobody really knows. Hopefully, this thing blows over and in three months, six months everybody’s back to normal. However, with the public, you never know how they are going to react to this long-term.”