NOW WHAT?

On first day of bar closures, restricted restaurant service, downtown Cd’A downright ghostly

COEUR d’ALENE — Josh Minter visited downtown Coeur d’Alene a few days ago, and it was full of life.

The sun was shining. It was nearly 60 degrees. People were walking, shopping, eating and drinking. Vehicles lined the parking spots and motored along Sherman Avenue.

Monday, not so much.

It was gray and cold. Most stores were closed. Only a handful of people wandered along, biking, skateboarding or walking a dog. A few stopped at shops and a woman carried a bag from a business.

Parking was plentiful and what little traffic there was flowed freely.

“It’s shocking. It’s nuts,” said Minter, who sat on a bench at Third and Sherman as he did some sketching.

“I went into the shops, vacant. Completely vacant,” he said. “Everything is completely vacant.”

Minter had little hope things would return to normal soon.

“Not for a long time, I don’t think,” he said.

Monday was the first day of the government-ordered shutdown of bars, and curbside and takeout services only for restaurants in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden and Rathdrum.

It was brutal.

Downtown Coeur d’Alene, usually a thriving business district, was for the most part a ghost town.

Only a few shops were open. Vault Coffee was serving takeout and had customers coming and going. All Things Irish was still open, with staff singing the praises of their UPS driver, who dropped off some toilet paper for the leprechauns and lassies there. The Corner Market’s doors were wide open and a few people milled around inside.

Many Sherman Avenue shops, like Fleet Feet and Clark’s Diamond Jewelers, had signs that said they were temporarily closed due to the coronavirus.

“Though this was not a light decision it was a quick one, and we are doing our best to adapt to a very fluid situation,” read a note on the Fleet Feet door.

“Until further notice, we will be working to serve you remotely,” read a note at Clark’s.

Even the venerable Hudson’s Hamburgers, open for more than a century and seemingly recession-proof, will be a victim, with plans to temporarily close Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when the hamburger stockpile runs out.

“We’ve been having really busy days up until today,” said Angela Six, working behind the counter. “Most of the day, it’s been like this.”

By like this, she meant empty.

Every now and then, a few people stopped in to order a single or double burger, but otherwise, “it’s just very slow,” Six said.

“So, come and get your Huddy’s burgers,” she said, smiling.

Six shook her head and said, simply, it’s been “kind of weird.”

Her hopes and expectations that things might settle down and get back to normal have been dashed.

“It’s crazy. It really is,” she said. “This is the first time I feel like it’s the end of the world. This seems different than any other tragedy that has every happened.”

Sam Lewis, walking on Sherman Avenue, said he’s scared. Not just for health reasons and fears of contracting the coronavirus, but the toll this will take on the economy.

Millions of jobs will be lost. Businesses will close for good. Mortgage payments will be missed and homes lost.

He noted that a friend was involved in a musical production that was shut down.

“That was the first shoe to drop that I was aware of,” Lewis said. “Now, shoes are dropping all over the place. Restaurants, bars, what’s next? Banks?”

But Lewis hadn’t lost all hope.

He recently landed a job installing home insulation. He believes the construction industry will hold on.

“We’re still building houses and still need people like me to install the insulation,” he said.

Autumn Maitland was walking her dog Chesney (after the country singer) on Sherman Avenue Monday afternoon. She hadn’t heard that bars were ordered closed and restaurants could offer only curbside/takeout service.

“I kind of figured it out once I got down here and saw there were no cars and the signs said curbside, to-go only,” she said.

Maitland said she and Chesney take daily walks in downtown Coeur d’Alene. She had never seen it looking so desolate. She fears the owners of the shops won’t financially survive if it continues much longer.

“It makes me sad that these small businesses have to shut down, to think that some of them could possibly go out of business,” Maitland said.