‘Everything was great. And then …’

Jim Purtee, owner of Jimmy’s Down the Street, hopes carry out orders help it survive the shutdown

COEUR d’ALENE— On a sunny, warm Thursday morning at Jimmy’s Down the Street, rock and roll music from the ’60s fills the dining area. Pictures of John Wayne, Uncle Sam and old license plates decorate the walls.

Owners Jim and Anna Purtee are talking to employees, reviewing paperwork and checking on supplies.

Two staffers are in the kitchen, one at the grill, another chopping vegetables in the back, while another works the cashier and answers the phone.

What’s missing?

Customers.

On a normal day, the booths and tables at Jimmy’s would be packed as folks talked, drank coffee and ate breakfast or lunch.

But on this day, in coronavirus times, those tables and booths sit silent.

Alex Norden and Cali Young are the only customers as they peruse the breakfast menu while near the front door. After a few minutes, Norden settles on the “Country Benedict” of eggs, biscuits, sausage and gravy, and a giant cinnamon roll, while Cali still hadn’t decided on her takeout order.

Norden has eaten at Jimmy’s before and is a fan of the cozy, friendly environment, a throwback to the good old days.

“Everybody is super cool. The food is especially delicious,” he said. “You get what you pay for, that’s for sure.”

Norden said he’s been doing what he can to support local businesses trying to survive the economic shutdown that came with the stay-home order due to the coronavirus.

“Especially during these times,” he said. “They really need it.”

Purtee, sitting nearby while reviewing disaster relief loan forms, agrees.

He brought the restaurant at 16th and Sherman 13 years ago, ran it about four years, then sold it. He decided retirement “wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” and bought it back last October.

“I miss the folks that were regular customers,” he said. “I’ve been in the business 55 years. I’m back.”

The Purtees invested some $40,000 in Jimmy’s, reupholstering seats, designing new coffee mugs, buying new kitchen equipment, a new sign and even repouring the sidewalks.

“Everything was great. And then,” he said, pausing, “we had to close.”

On March 25, Gov. Brad Little issued a stay-home order and closed businesses deemed nonessential to try and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Jimmy’s initially shut its doors, but reopened last week to offer takeout service from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Slowly, customers are returning.

“It’s growing every day,” he said.

And then …

“We kind of got kicked in the teeth a little bit Monday between the internet and the phones were off all day downtown,” he said. “And of course, if you can’t use the phone you can’t take any order, so that was another tough day.

“And the day after that was tough because people thought we were closed when they tried to call the previous day,” Purtee said. “It’s just one thing after the other.”

But he and Anna and their team, as the saying goes, have just begun to fight.

“We just kind of hope it gets better every day, a little bit,” he said.

Purtee is reviewing a stack of disaster loan assistance program papers. He filed an application for an initial $10,000 grant on March 29 but hasn’t heard anything.

He also applied for the federal Paycheck Protection Program, but heard it ran out of money.

“We’re already in the loop, so hopefully we’ll see that money before long, but we haven’t seen anything yet,” he said.

It’s a frustrating situation for Purtee and others unable to operate their businesses.

He said well before the Little shutdown order, Jimmy’s was practicing social distancing and sitting people at every other table.

He would like to see businesses in areas like Kootenai County, which has a population of about 165,000 and only 49 cases of the coronavirus, allowed to reopen.

Until then, his goal is to keep customers calling or walking in for carryout orders. They had 17 employees before the shutdown, and now just a few.

“It’s important we keep something going,” he said. “We want to keep some sort of income for those key employees.”

Purtee speaks passionately about Jimmy’s “super senior customers” who come in every day for their mid-morning meal. He loves interacting with them and pretty much everyone who sits down.

“Getting out is important to them,” he said. “They get out, they come to the restaurant, they have a place to sit down and eat.”

Except, not now.

Purtee shakes his head.

“Are we making any money. Are we breaking even?” he asks. “Well, we hope so, just to kind of keep those objectives in mind.”

Jimmy’s, he notes, has been around more than 50 years. It’s an iconic stop on East Sherman, a gathering spot for locals. He loves this restaurant, the staff, the customers.

So Jim Purtee will do what he can to build business.

They have banners and signs and wind dancers outside to let people know they are open. Many have noticed.

“Everybody has been real grateful when they come in, and thank us for being open,” he said.

Despite the financial fallout, Purtee said there are still good days that make him smile, and he laughs about one particularly hot item.

“We are selling a lot of pecan rolls.”