Certain COVID-19 restrictions will be loosened starting Friday at 5 p.m. The stay-at-home order and statewide curfew will also be lifted.The changes include:The gathering limit changes to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors.Businesses will be able to operate at 50% capacity.On-site alcohol service moved to 11 p.m.Outdoor businesses operating at 30% will no longer have 100-person limit.Outdoor-only businesses can now move indoors at 30% with a limit of 250 people (bars, movie theaters, sporting arenas).Larger indoor sporting arenas can operate at 15% capacity.This comes as good news for a lot of businesses around the state. Business owners in downtown Hendersonville hope to see a lot more foot traffic on the streets of downtown.“I think any time people hear the word 'ease,' that brings out a lot more of a comfort level,” Hendersonville's Mountain Deli Manager Jerry Fitzgerald said.After a slow winter, Fitzgerald says he’s hoping this will be another step to getting businesses back up on their feet.“That means it’s no longer as bad as it was,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re moving in the right direction. So I think it will bring more people out, hopefully during the daytime as well as the evening, but I do see it definitely in the right direction.”Businesses have faced tight restrictions in terms of capacity and seating. At Black Bear Coffee Co., owner Mark Pavao says they had to rely on their outdoor seating until the winter, so the easing of restrictions will help them accommodate more people inside.“People are feeling more comfortable,” Pavao said. “We’re feeling more comfortable.”Being a small business, Pavao says they’ll still be pretty limited in how many people they can accommodate, but he’s grateful for the change.“We will be able, probably, to add one or two, maybe three tables inside,” Pavao said. “We are pretty maxed out as it is already, but yeah, any step in the right direction for any of us is a great step.”Fitzgerald hopes this change helps put them on track for a successful spring and summer. He anticipates a lot of traffic as the weather gets warmer.“I think definitely think this summer’s going to be big,” Fitzgerald said. “I really do.”The mask mandate will stay in place. Gov. Roy Cooper urges people to keep their guard up and continue practicing the 3Ws (Wear, Wait, Wash)."Carelessness could lead to a backslide," Cooper said.At The Dugout in downtown Hendersonville, North Carolina, the manager, Sam Hare, tells WYFF4 bumping back the alcohol curfew from 9 p.m. to 11 will make a big difference. “We had a good summer, our numbers were good,” said Hare, “But the moment they turned it back to 9, that restricted us so much. So now coming into spring, and the tourists coming back, and being able to go to 11, maybe it’ll end all together like South Carolina.” COVID-19 capacity restrictions impacted distributors as well as the restaurants, bars and other venues they serve.“To come in to COVID-19, to all the sudden where your business went from being really high to be nonexistent, to them reopening, so day-to-day we didn’t know who would open who would close," said Betsy Peffley, a food distributor,