Knoxville businesses react to CDC guidelines urging people wear masks in East TN, including vaccinated people
In East Tennessee, only Meigs County and Unicoi County are not included in the new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Author: Mary Klingler Updated: 11:04 PM EDT July 27, 2021
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. As the Centers for Disease Control recommends people wear masks indoors across East Tennessee regardless of whether they received a COVID-19 vaccine, local businesses already feel the impact.
It’s not mandated so no one is breaking the rules by not enforcing masks, but many downtown Knoxville businesses are getting prepared to dust off their “mask required” window signs.
Browsing is back! Union Ave Books reopens for walk-ins as downtown gets back to normal
The Knoxville News-Sentinel 2 hrs ago Jake Yoder
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After Union Ave Books limited in-store shopping for more than a year, a new sort of normal set in at the downtown Knoxville shop.
But in advance of Independent Bookstore Day late last month, co-owner Bunnie Presswood had a thought. Maybe it was time to return to the old normal.
On April 24, the shop at 517 Union Ave. opened for walk-in browsing for the first time since March 2020.
“The time just felt right,” Presswood told Knox News. “We feel like things have gotten so much better recently. We wanted to be safe for so long… We didn’t want to reopen and have to close again. We wanted to make sure when we finally fully reopened the doors, it would be something we could do for a long time.”
After Union Ave Books limited in-store shopping for more than a year, a new sort of normal set in at the downtown Knoxville shop.
But in advance of Independent Bookstore Day late last month, co-owner Bunnie Presswood had a thought. Maybe it was time to return to the old normal.
On April 24, the shop at 517 Union Ave. opened for walk-in browsing for the first time since March 2020.
“The time just felt right,” Presswood told Knox News. “We feel like things have gotten so much better recently. We wanted to be safe for so long… We didn’t want to reopen and have to close again. We wanted to make sure when we finally fully reopened the doors, it would be something we could do for a long time.”