COVID-19 State of emergency Public Comment from Amber RoperFrom:Amber Roper
To:Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL] State of Emergency
Date:Monday, April 6, 2020 4:02:02 PM
I first one to say thank you for taking this seriously as we do value all lives in this valley. And
as a Business owner where a lot of my customers are considered higher risk due to pregnancy,infancy and grandparents we have been watching this very closely and really sending positive
vibes to our friends and loved ones.
Today we are considered essential as we have hygiene (cloth and disposable diapers diaper)and safety (car seat purchases as well as two CPSTs on site for install and safety checks) items
as well as Breastfeeding supplements etc. MOST of our business we have been able toencourage to online w/ curbside pickup. The exceptions to that have all been appointment
based consultations for cloth diapering, car seats, baby carriers etc during our limited hourswhich allows us to have no more than two customers in the store at a time.
I am a bit concerned if we start to push people to go through any form of checkpoints etc. that
this may really discourage people from continuing to try to support us local businesses that areoffering curbside pickup and push them to ship everything. This really just puts MORE
HANDS on products and more potential risks as well as delays on getting those essential itemsthat are needed. As we need to be SAFE right now we also need to be smart about how we are
doing this. Ensuring that ALL businesses that are considered essential are open as safely asthey can be would be a great first step. This seems to be FAR MORE of an issue w/ the bigger
stores than us small guys. They have lines of people standing far closer than 6' from each-other as they wait to go in, shop and checkout. If we discourage people from using
alternatives, like us smaller shops, this will continue to be a bigger issue and/or we will drivemore business outside of the valley which will hurt us even more in the long run.
How about a county wide directory of all businesses that ARE open, what they offer for
products, and how to shop and pickup? ENCOURAGE local shopping safely!
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Cheers,Amber Roper
Owner
Nature Baby Outfitter
mobile: 406 871-2710store: 406 314-6464