Business gets ready to reopen from COVID-19 closure, hopes customers will return

Phoenix art gallery owner remains optimistic as date for reopening of non-essential businesses nears

The business opened up just months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PHOENIX - For one Central Phoenix business, it was simply bad timing.

Less than a year after Shaneland Arts opened on Camelback and 3rd Street, everything is upside down due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"Any business, as you know, it takes about a year to build the business, to get people to understand the brand," said owner Shane McCall.

McCall never imagines business would start to go south, six months after opening.

"To have something like this happen in the first year is absolutely a devastating blow to us because just when you feel like 'wait a minute, we might be [in the] black this month versus red,' you ended up like 'wait, I'm six feet under,'" said McCall. "I'm not even red anymore. I'm absolutely slaughtered."

Shaneland Arts opened in August 2019. It is a place where people shop for art pieces from local artists and attend art classes. McCall, who is also the creativity coach, says business picked up in January and February.

March was a different story, as McCall saw drastic decline even before Gov. Ducey's stay at home order went into effect on March 31.

"At the time when things started going south, I had about 14 clients, and all of them kept saying 'I can't afford you. I can't afford you,'" McCall recalls. "Now, I'm down to zero clients. We also then had to refund classes. We had to refund paint and sips to people."

Under the modified stay-at-home order, retailers not classified as an essential business may, starting May 4, operate through delivery service and other means that do not entail in-store sales. On May 8, non-essential retailers can sell items to customers in-store.

"We started the preparation, which is telling our employees that they can come back," said McCall. "We are going to have masks for them. We are going to social distance. We are working on some artsy graphics to put on the floor."

McCall is staying positive.

"Am I scared that my dream is going to go down in flames? Absolutely, but I am optimistic that Phoenix will rally around us," said McCall.

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