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Placer Retail Poised To Reopen, Some Businesses Playing Catch-Up

PLACER COUNTY (CBS13) — Placer county is one of 17 counties given the go-ahead by the governor to reopen more businesses to in-store customers, leading to the reopening of places like the Roseville Galleria.

The approval came down late Tuesday, and authorities say it was effective immediately, but some businesses CBS13 spoke with say the message has not hit retailers yet.

Tom Wiggleton owns Tom's Discount Office Furniture. He has not been taking this stay-at-home order sitting down.

"Everybody is sitting at home and they are uncomfortable, their backs hurt, they're sitting at the kitchen table and they need a chair," Wiggleton said.

But online sales aren't enough.

"I haven't even done the numbers I don't want to," he said.

When we stopped by Wednesday morning, he had no idea the governor had approved Placer County to enter into part two of stage 2 of the state's reopening plan, which allows shopping centers, in-store retail and dine-in restaurants to reopen.

Neither did Janis Watson with Terra Cottage Collective.

READ: Plumas, Sierra, Sutter, Tuolumne And Yuba Counties Given Green Light To Reopen Quicker

With state directives changing literally hour-by-hour the last few days, county leaders are doing their best to keep communities informed, updating health and safety protocols in their website https://www.placer.ca.gov/reopen

Watson has a second store in Folsom and said she will wait to reopen both her stores for now.

"I typically wait to do things until it's been allowed in both counties," she said.

In the meantime, she has done safety training with employees and is practicing proper sanitizing protocols. Wiggleton is doing the same.

"We clean everything and make sure it's in good condition," he said.

Once he heard he could allow customers back inside, he was elated.

"We have been sitting on our hands for a long time, we need to pay the bills and get back to work," Wiggleton said.

Wiggleton owns another discount furniture store in Santa Clara. He expects that store to be shut down much longer.

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