CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Businesses in North Carolina are anxiously waiting to find out if the state will move into Phase 2 of Governor Roy Cooper's reopening plan Friday.
Cooper says he will make an announcement mid-week if the state can move forward. Phase 2 would allow restaurants, pools, and personal care services to open at reduced capacity with safety protocols in place.
Plans to originally reopen bars, gyms, and playgrounds at the start of Phase 2 have been postponed, Governor Roy Cooper announced on May 20.
5/20/20 UPDATE: North Carolina to enter Phase 2 reopening Friday
Natillie Rauch, co-owner of True 180 Personal Training, is ready to welcome clients back to her fitness studio after switching to online sessions when the pandemic spread to Charlotte.
"Pivoting the business has been very scary because you never know,” Rauch said. “Working online with people is not the same as working in person."
The studio is less than 1,500 square feet, but because it’s considered a gym, it is not allowed to reopen until the state moves into Phase 2. Rauch created a petition online, calling for micro gyms and boutique fitness studios to be reclassified as retail businesses. Different types of retail businesses were allowed to reopen May 8 under Phase 1 of North Carolina’s phased reopening plan.
"We cannot be compared with the big box gyms who are catering to thousands of people,” Rauch said. “They are tens of thousands of square feet. We are under 1,500 square feet, and we can ensure our rigorous hygiene standards are met every single time someone comes in."
True 180 Personal Training has already marked off its studio into eight by eight squares to allow for social distancing. Only two clients will be allowed per hour when the space reopens, and masks will be required for the workouts. Rauch added that clients will have to spray their shoes, wash their hands, and have their temperature taken as soon as they walk in the door.
“We can safely cater to our customers and our clients given the rigorous standards to comply with,” Rauch said.
If there is another shutdown in the future, Rauch said she hopes micro gyms and boutique fitness studios will not be put in the same category as larger gyms because she said sanitizing and health protocols can more easily be followed and managed in the smaller spaces.
“It is very frustrating to be lumped in with the larger gyms,” Rauch said, “because we’re just two different animals.”