Oswego Businesses Adapt To State Mandates, Continue Sales

By: Shea O’Malley

OSWEGO – KQ Chinese Restaurant, located in Oswego, reopened for the first-time Friday, April 24, since shutting its doors in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The New York State on PAUSE program closed all non-essential businesses in March, giving essential businesses the clearance to operate within limited conditions.

Restaurants were reduced to take out and delivery only, while maintaining social distancing and safety protocols during operating hours.

 Nancy Lin, co-owner of KQ said she wanted to be safe and chose to keep her doors closed until the worst of the pandemic had passed in the Oswego County area.

“[I was] pretty scared when my son told me the news. You never know who has the germs,” Lin said. “I shut down [in] March and reopened April 24, just for takeout.”

Being closed for weeks and knowing customers had been out of work for almost two months, Lin prepared for the worst on opening day.

“I’m afraid we [would] open, and [there would be] no business,” Lin said. “I don’t plan a lot of food. First day [and] second day, most of the food [was] gone.”

Customers lined up in six-foot social-distancing swaths, waiting their turn to pay and leave. Multiple cooks and servers behind the counter hurried as they prepared hot meals to go.

“I put the table [up] and make a line, just like a long walk to the cashier; and they pay for it, and they go out,” Lin said. “And now everybody works hard to make sure we have food for my favorite customers.”

While KQ is deemed an essential business, non-essential businesses have also either completely closed or adapted to adhere to the statewide mandates.

The Rivers End Bookstore was deemed non-essential when New York State on PAUSE went into effect, forcing them to shut their doors to all walk-in traffic, but they have adapted to provide readers in the Oswego area with new books.

“We’re down to one person in the store currently. So, whoever is on, they’re trying to answer the phone, get orders together and all that good stuff,” Emil Christmann, manager of The Rivers End Bookstore said. “We are doing deliveries; we’re doing it safely and efficiently [and] we’re wearing our masks whenever we’re out… The one thing that pretty quickly came to mind was our social media presence. I’ve been doing a weekly Facebook live stream video. The web sales have been pretty robust [and] we’ve been more active than we ever have previously.” 

With different states starting to reopen businesses, New York state remains cautious of restarting a second wave of COVID-19 in an already hard-hit state; quarantined-weary residents remaining vigilant with masks and social distancing. 

“Of course, we’re hopeful [to reopen], but we’re not going to rush into it if it’s not safe,” Christmann said. “The date could be again into June or later, so we’re just keeping our ear to the ground and paying attention to everything.”

Despite operating under a cloud of unique circumstances, Lin and Christmann are grateful for the outpouring of love and support from each of their customers.

“By the way, I appreciate all my customers,” Lin said. “People usually wait 10-20 minutes [for food] to cook. But this time [first day] – 40 minutes to an hour. They still want the food; they still want to wait. I want to say thank you to the whole community.”

Both KQ Restaurant and The Rivers End Bookstore have operated in Oswego for over 20 years, each blessed to have a faithful and supportive community that helps each other in a time of need. 

“We’re still here, and we’ll be here for as long as we possibly can; just taking it one day at a time,” Christmann said. “We’re very thankful that we have such a strong community that supports us today as they have for the past 22 years or so.”

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