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Lack of Staff Impacting Local Business Owners Along the North Shore
Staff Shortages Prompting Many Small Businesses to Make Adjustments to Menus, Hours of Operation Along the North Shore
May 9, 2021
Frustration is high among business owners as the peak summer season is now just weeks away.
“We’ve tried every possible avenue to attract staff,” said Abby Tofte, owner of The Fisherman’s Daughter.
It’s a common concern along this scenic section of Greater Minnesota.
“It’s really hard to try to find enough help,” said Dee Brazell, owner of World’s Best Doughnuts. “It’s very frustrating. I used to think that we were always struggling for help because we were seasonal, we open in May and close in October.”
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GRAND MARAIS, Minn. – Rewind to August weekends here, when visitors queued up for entry to downtown shops, it was nearly impossible to find a hotel room and one restaurant was selling enough tacos on a given night to feed half of this small town s population.
Throughout this hectic summer tourism season, when businesses were at times overwhelmed by traffic, many of Cook County s 5,400 permanent residents worried: Would this be the week the out-of-towners caused a massive COVID-19 outbreak? It was terrifying at first, said Jill Terrill, who owns Joy & Company, a boutique in the remote county along the North Shore of Lake Superior.