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Several Village business try to reestablish themselves as students return to campus

MUNCIE, Ind.(NewsLink) -- After COVID-19 caused Ball State University to close down in spring of 2020, small businesses around the campus took a hard hit.

In the Village, there are a few small restaurants that went through a journey with this pandemic and are still trying to recover.

Co-owner Morgan Roddy of Queer Chocolatier explained that this pandemic cost them a lot of money they would have put toward their lease, but that the community came together to try and help.

“I really don’t know about the future of Queer Chocolatier, but within 72 hours a Go-Fund Me was set up for us,” said Roddy.

Roddy's first concern about her business was her customer's safety, and for that reason she closed the inside dining, but was thinking about another solution. 

“I was thinking about doing a walk out business, but I don’t know the wisdom in that because people will congregate on the sidewalk. I don’t know if that will be a safe way to serve customers either, so I do feel torn between the responsibility for making money for the business and the customer safety,” stated Roddy. 

At Chavas Mexican Grill, which is right down the street, Ricardo Ramirez, an employee, explained how the pandemic lost them some business, but he understood how this virus can be terrifying for others. 

“When we reopened, many people were scared about COVID-19, and we care about our employees and customers. During this, we only had about 25% of customers come in to eat,” said Ramirez. 

Several businesses in the Village are hoping the students return might be able to get them back on their feet.

For any comments or concerns, contact the author at agonzalezmor@bsu.edu