ADDENDUM 10/12: A previous version of this article included a picture of a number of downtown Washington-street businesses including Stir-Ups Parlor & Saloon that are not closing as a result of COVID-19. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) — Two more area businesses have decided to close their doors permanently in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Citing pandemic hardship, Aunt Ethel’s Adult Arcade, which we previously profiled in a story earlier this week, announced Saturday on Facebook that they will be permanently shutting their doors.
“We gave this biz–which had stellar growth before COVID–our best effort to keep it going,” owners Casey and Tim Jelinski wrote in a press release. “Seven months later with no vaccine in sight, we’re letting go.”
The De Pere adult bar and arcade is the most recent local business to announce a permanent closure. Greenwich Bistro, a Bellevue eatery, announced its permanent closure on its Facebook page on Friday.
“The hardships of Covid these past 8 months and the unknown circumstances of our future have left us in a state where we cannot recover,” the owners announced on Facebook.
The Wisconsin Restaurant Association put forward concerns this week that many restaurants and bars across the state would be unable to survive as a result of Governor Tony Evers’ latest COVID-19 emergency order limiting indoor occupancy at bars, restaurants, and retail establishments to 25% of normal limits.
“Restaurants are not gonna be able to survive. And with 25 percent capacity, they’ve been running on fumes for quite a while, so it really is going to be catastrophic for many restaurants,” said Wisconsin Restaurant Association (WRA) President Kristine Hillmer. “It’s really devastating knowing that we’re not going to get federal support and then we have to reduce capacity.”
A survey of WRA’s membership prior to the order showed about 37-percent would not be able to survive another six months without federal dollars. Hillmer estimates that could easily reach 50-percent if the order continues through November 6th.
