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Northwest Ohio business owners prepared to reopen

While they still don't know when they'll be able to open up, small business owners have already made some adjustments.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine addressed Tuesday what our daily lives might look like after the stay at home orders are lifted.

"I've got six chairs in my shop and I'll probably take two of those away so I can spread them out so the clients aren't next to each other. Kind of social distancing," Joesph Woodring, owner of The Hair Hut, said.

Woodring has been a barber for more than 40 years and since he was forced to close because of the coronavirus, he's been thinking about what he'll need to do to reopen.

"We'll just have to wait and see but, I think now, right now, we'll be back by May 1, on May 1 or thereafter," Woodring said.

Ron Hemelgarn's Super Fitness gyms have been around for 48  years and he's taken this forced closure as a chance to make improvements.

"Painting and steam cleaning the aerobic floors, disinfecting and just doing a real real real hard cleaning," Hemelgarn said.

He has already considered layout and sanitization practices so people can hit the gym as soon as they re-open.

"There's going to be a lot of members that wear a mask. That's good. We have a brand new cleaning solution that we just got in," Hemelgarn said.

The Maumee Chamber of Commerce is working to promote the changes local businesses have had to make and is ready to drive people back to its members as they begin to open back up.

"We have been having conversations with people just talking about expect the unexpected and begin to prioritize what's going to be critical to get you back up and running," Executive Director of the Maumee Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kristen Meyer said.

No clear date is available yet for when these changes happen, but both Super Fitness and the Hair Hut have already talked to eager customers ready to come back.   

RELATED: Sen. McColley asks DeWine to reopen non-essential businesses in rural NW Ohio

RELATED: Ohio Coronavirus Update April 14 | Acton: State flattening COVID-19 curve, but 'we can't stop there'

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