Old Colorado City businesses react to extended stay-at-home order

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- People are asking for clarification after Governor Jared Polis extended his stay-at-home order for an additional two weeks during an address to the state Monday evening.

Initially, the stay-at-home order was set to expire on April 11. The order urges people not to travel except for essential activity and mandates all non-essential businesses to close.

Polis extended that order to April 26, saying he could shorten or lengthen that timeline depending on what happens with COVID-19 statistics in the state before then.

This extension does not affect restaurants, bars, event venues, casinos, salons and tattoo parlors, which had already been mandated by a previous order to stay closed until April 30.

We reached out to businesses affected by the new extension to see how they plan to manage an extra two weeks.

Randy Fair, co-owner of Jives Coffee Lounge, told us his business is suffering, regardless of their ability to do takeout.

"Sales are 70% lower than normal, at least, everyday," he told us.

But Randy said he's even more worried for the other shops in the area.

"90% of the shops around here are boutiques. Unfortunately, they're at zero. I feel horrible for my neighbors," Randy said.

Maria Uribe owns the British Pantry and Tea Room down the street from Jives. She told us, like the other shops, she'll need government assistance to get by. However, she says she's heard from other businesses that there could be some roadblocks.

"They keep going down different rabbit holes and they're not getting where they need to be," Uribe said. "I'm hoping the government can step up and fix the problem so that the small business owners can get the funds they need to stay open."