Fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic is having an impact on the southwest Oklahoma economy as well as nationally and globally.
For example, President Trump declared a national emergency Friday, which automatically triggered Oklahoma’s price-gouging law. The Emergency Price Stabilization Act prohibits businesses from increasing the price of goods or services more than 10%.
CANCELLATIONS TOTALED $12K IN 24 HOURS
Effective March 16, Fort Sill suspended guest attendance at graduation ceremonies “until further notice” in order to prevent any potential spread of COVID-19 to “service members,
Department of the Army civilians, families, and the entire Lawton-Fort Sill community,” the post announced.
For Candy Hanza, general manager of Comfort Suites in Lawton, the Fort Sill disruption has been “devastating”.
In the 24 hours after Fort Sill issued its announcement, “We had $12,168 in room cancellations as of 3:10 p.m. yesterday,” Hanza said Friday. The 74-room hotel “went from sold out to being almost empty,” she said. “Right now, you can have any room you want. I haven’t seen cancellations like this since Sept. 11,” the date of the terrorists attacks in 2001.
In normal times, entire families “come to Fort Sill to watch their sons and daughters graduate,” Hanza noted. “That’s mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, grandparents and cousins. Sometimes they drive, sometimes they fly in. Because of this, though, they will not be traveling.”
“Wednesday and Thursday nights typically take us through the west of the week,” she said, explaining that Thursdays are “family day” at the post and Fridays are “graduation day.” Compounding the problem is that January through May “are slow times of the year for us, anyway,” she said. “Hopefully this is just temporary.”
Hanza predicted that suspension of guest attendance at Fort Sill graduation ceremonies will have a deep impact on her industry because, “Almost every hotel in this town is privately owned.”
LITTLE, IF ANY, EFFECT ON FOOD INDUSTRY EXPECTED
“It’s too soon to say” whether the Fort Sill edict will have an effect on the restaurant industry, Julia Salas, owner of Salas Urban Cantina in Lawton, said Fri- day. “The real test will be this weekend, because this is payday weekend.”
Since her philosophy is to ‘hope for the best but prepare for the worst,’ Salas said she is “preparing for a slowdown” to some extent.
Several days ago “we had a party of 25 who canceled their reservation because of the virus,” she said Fri- day, “but we’ve got another party booked tonight and it’s still on. For now it’s business-as-usual.”
Her restaurant “didn’t experience a big hit” after 9/11, Salas recalled. “We provide ‘comfort food’ and we’re not high-priced.”
Because of the coronavirus concerns, her 50 employees have stepped up health safety precautions, she said. “We have twice daily disinfections” that include wiping down menus, doorknobs, toilet handles, telephones, computer screens, and credit-card screens.
Ironically, Salas had scheduled a trip to Italy on April 8. To blunt the spread of the coronavirus, the entire country is on lockdown; restaurants, bars, and all stores except supermarkets and pharmacies have been forced to close.
“We are doing everything we can to make Mike’s safe for our customers and staff,” said Mike Underwood, owner of Mike’s Sports Grill. “We have hand sanitizing stations at the door. The waitstaff wash their hands at every opportunity and the cooks wear gloves. We are taking every precaution we can,” he said. “I beat the run on Lysol spray; I think we’re good for four months,” he quipped.
The public is worried about the coronavirus “because it is new,” Underwood said.
He predicted that the COVID-19 scare “will have a small effect on all the restaurants” in Lawton. “Sales were up this week over last week,” he said.
“This might be tough right now,” Underwood said, “but when we get through this – when we get on the other side of the tunnel – there will be a pent-up need for people to go out to eat and enjoy themselves.”
EATERIES STRESS WASHING, SANITIZING HANDS
Because of public concern about the coronavirus, the Apache Casino Hotel in east Lawton is temporarily removing its Sunday Brunch Buffet and the lunchtime Quik Buffet. In their place the hotel will provide a Quik
Menu for lunchtime Monday through Friday, General Manager Lynn Ray announced.
Other precautions the hotel is taking include: providing additional hand sanitizing stations throughout the property; deep cleaning the facilities frequently with recommended sanitizing products; wiping all surfaces as they are used; asking all invitees and ticket holders to Entertainment Center Events to make use of the hotel’s hand sanitizer stations prior to entering the pre-function space; instructing employees who feel ill to stay at home and consult their healthcare providers; and mandating that all employees wash their hands “even more frequently than the norm.”
ELGIN PHARMACY DRIVE-THRU ONLY
“In an attempt to keep both our staff and customers safe, we will be transitioning to drive-thru only,” the Elgin Pharmacy announced Sunday. “We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and adjust accordingly. Thank you for your understanding.”
TOILET PAPER, HAND SANITIZER SELLING OUT...
Walmart stores have experienced a run on toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
Customers at the Chickasha Walmart bought four pallets of toilet paper in two days last week. Stockers didn’t even bother to put the rolls on shelves; customers grabbed the packages from the pallets as they were delivered to the floor.
Because of heightened customer demand, Walmart imposed a two-per-custom- er limit on toilet paper and cases of water. Ibuprofen and other pain relievers quickly became scarce.
The store sold out of liquid hand sanitizer more than a week before, and bleach, sanitizing wipes and disinfectant sprays “are not available at this time,” a store associate said.
The Walmart Supercenter on Main Street in Altus had a similar experience. The store imposed a two-package per-customer per-day limit on toilet paper.
“As we were unloading the toilet paper, customers were putting the packages into their baskets,” a store associate said. Four pallets of toilet paper “hit the shelves and were purchased within 20 minutes,” he said.
A few doors down the street, a Dollar General store had a small amount of toilet paper in the stockroom. It sold out within minutes after it hit the shelves.
...SO ARE MYRIAD OTHER NECESSITIES
Southwest Oklahoma shoppers have left store shelves utterly devoid or in short supply of not just toilet paper. Other items popular with shoppers include:
Flushable personal cleansing wipes, diapers, and baby wipes, nitrile and latex disposable gloves, antibacterial hand soap, isopropyl alcohol, bleach, Lysol and Clorox spray, sanitizing surface wipes, antibacterial dish soap, ibuprofen, and other fever-reducing pain relievers, and bottled drinking water.
And in some areas: food staples such as potatoes, rice, beans, as well as sports drinks, baby formula, Pedialyte, paper towels, ziplock bags, trash bags, crackers, cooking oil, sugar, flour, cooking spices, bread, canned fruits, peanut butter, cereal, canned vegetables, broth, tuna, canned beans, pasta and sauces, tortillas, instant potatoes, frozen foods, instant powdered milk, ground beef and turkey, chicken, cheese, luncheon meat, and Ramen noodles.
HAC (COUNTRY MART)
“[W]e are taking significant precautionary measures and adhering to recommendations from public health officials,” said Marc Jones, president and CEO of HAC Inc.
HAC is a chain headquar- tered in Oklahoma City that operates 74 grocery stores in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Georgia under multiple ban- ners, including Country Mart and Homeland.
“We have developed contingency plans to respond to a variety of scenarios so that we can react swiftly if any of the areas where we operate is impacted,” Jones wrote.
Besides “reinforcing good hygiene practices recommend- ed by the CDC with our fellow owners,” he said, “we have also increased the frequency of our already stringent cleaning and sanitation procedures in every department.” In addition, Jones said the company is providing customers with disinfectants “to use for their hands and on their shopping carts or baskets.”
The company also has “temporarily suspended self-sampling stations in the stores,” he wrote. “However, if you would like to try a product, please ask any associate and we would be happy to provide a sample.”
PSO RESTRICTS TRAVEL
American Electric Power, parent company of electric utility Public Service Co. of Oklahoma (which serves Law- ton and at least three dozen other cities and towns in southwest Oklahoma), “has restricted business travel, and instead asks employees to use video conferencing and web meetings,” said Jim Evers, AEP state governmental and environmental affairs director.
They have restricted business conferences, trade shows, training, etc. (All this, of course, unless it’s business critical.)
The company has asked employees to monitor their personal travel, and some who have traveled have been asked to self-monitor/quarantine.
“Every update includes, ‘We are monitoring the situation closely and will provide updates.’ In talking with my peers in other companies, I think we’re all hearing the same thing: wash your hands, don’t attend large meetings, work from home if needed, and monitor your own health closely.”
WALMART CUTS HOURS
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, on Sunday reduced hours at 24-hour stores and other locations. The temporary hours are 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. “until further notice.” The company said the shortened hours will enable employees to clean and disinfect stores and restock shelves.
CHICKASAW NATION CLOSES CASINOS
The Chickasaw Nation will temporarily close its casinos in Oklahoma to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, tribal Governor Bill Anoatubby announced. The tribe’s casinos will close at midnight Monday and remain closed through March 31.