TORRINGTON – After a month of social distancing, staying home and avoiding stores, many people are looking for ways to escape the monotony – and a group of downtown businesses have come up with what they believe is a safe way to partially rekindle their businesses and provide a welcome distraction for shoppers.
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TORRINGTON – After a month of social distancing, staying home and avoiding stores, many people are looking for ways to escape the monotony – and a group of downtown businesses have come up with what they believe is a safe way to partially rekindle their businesses and provide a welcome distraction for shoppers.
The Downtown COVID Escape, a joint venture between downtown retail stores and the Goshen County Economic Development Corporation, is a soft re-opening of businesses that voluntarily shuttered their doors as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. While some businesses, like bars and gyms, were ordered to close by Governor Mark Gordon, retail stores weren’t included in those orders.
And so, with safety as their first priority, Farm Girls Boutique, Home on the Range, Heartland Embroidery and Sunshine Photography will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Those businesses, along with Torrington Office Supply – which has been open for its regular hours – will donate 10 percent of their proceeds during the month of April to Goshen HELP.
Celsie Sussex, of Home on the Range, said the Downtown COVID Escape is important to both shoppers and merchants.
“It’s really important,” she said. “The main thing is that people around here, not just us, need to see that there’s hope that the normal is coming back and that we are wanting to give back to the community that’s done so much for us. Just having our doors open and giving people a safe place to come and relax and do something different for a while is really important to us.”
For several of the shops, the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to find new ways to do business. Taryn Kilty, owner of Farm Girls Boutique, took parts of her business online to reach her customers.