Eric and Karen Nelson. via Facebook
Last September, after moving to Eugene from Seaside, Oregon, Eric Nelson and his wife, Karen Nelson, would take long walks every morning, talking over their next move.
They’d owned a successful restaurant and bar in Seaside called Sam’s Seaside Cafe for nearly 25 years, selling it only to move closer to their son, who settled in Eugene after graduating from the University of Oregon.
“I missed being in the industry, and she started missing it, too,” Eric Nelson remembers.
Inclined to re-enter the hospitality business, Nelson and his wife discussed what their next establishment might be like: Something smaller, they thought, more of a bar than a restaurant; a place that would be easy to operate with minimal staffing.
As Lane County quickly approaches one year in lockdown to minimize the spread of COVID-19, local restaurants and businesses are continuing to struggle to survive with no definitive end to the pandemic in sight.
Financial turbulence has marred local establishments as various health restrictions were put in place to keep people safe. In the face of prolonged obstacles, many area businesses have had to close entirely but tracking closures proves to be difficult. There s no business license in the city of Eugene, said Anne Fifield, an economic strategist with the city, explaining one of the obstacles in monitoring business closures and openings.