The New Ways We Do Business

Meeting the challenges of a lengthy pandemic and chaotic economy

When Cowetans began to grasp the potential impact of COVID-19 in early 2020, they were alarmed but committed to meeting the challenges ahead.

Most were completely unaware that, almost two years later, we’d still be dealing with the lingering effects of a pandemic and its deep impact on the way we work and live.

As individuals, local residents may see the world as near normal, but for many Coweta businesses, that impact has led to unforeseen challenges that continue to alter their operations in both subtle and profound ways.

Short supplies and changing hours

Coweta’s restaurant industry, for example, continues to face a problematic landscape of supply issues, staffing challenges and changing consumer demands.

During the height of the pandemic, delivery to homes became routine, and while it helped keep revenue flowing, it put more pressure on the thin profit margins of typical dining establishments.

In 2022, restaurateurs like Maridee Wise, who with her husband owns the landmark Goldens on the Square in Newnan, see new challenges popping up nearly everyday.

“We opened back up about eight weeks after the initial shutdown,” says Wise. “It was difficult, with limited hours, but we’re blessed and made it through. Our employees have stayed with us, and we’re almost back to normal.”

While she expected to be well past pandemic issues now, Wise says she daily continues to experience its impact.

“One day, it might be an inability to find paper products,” she says. “Another day, we may see delays in a particular food item we need. For a time, we couldn’t get catfish. I’m not sure why, but we know suppliers continue to have major staffing issues, and shipping is an ongoing challenge.”

The pandemic has created another change for restaurants: limited operating hours to accommodate staffing limitations.

While it had been open seven days a week, Meat ‘N’ Greet, in downtown Newnan, now closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Goldens, which used to open daily as well, now operates six days a week, everyday but Saturday.

“We started that because it was a great day for employees to spend with their families,” says Wise. “Our employees are so important to our operations that we’ve kept that going.”

Steel soars, deliveries stall

Tucked away in a large industrial building off Amlajack Drive, Coweta Machine and Fabrication has been a leading steel fabricator in Georgia for more than 30 years. They’ve completed projects large and small, from retrofitting M1 tanks with minesweepers for the U.S. Army to building a new, steel-based bridge for White Oak Golf Club in Newnan.

Pete Fleming, who founded the business with his son Grady, says that while business remains strong, difficult conditions persist that continue to limit their operations.

“For a time, we were short of help like many people,” says Fleming. “But today, our biggest obstacle is that we just can’t get the materials we need. We depend on long haul truckers, and that industry has a ton of problems it’s trying to overcome. For us, that means that an order for steel that would ordinarily get to us in three days is now taking a week or more, if we can get the material at all.

Prices are also a major obstacle. Fleming says his company recently completed a bid for a bridge project that required small sheets of specialty steel.

“A year ago, that piece of steel would have been about $140 per sheet. Today, it’s $340 a sheet, if we can find it,” he says. “This reflects a general trend that has seen steel prices more than double since January.”

Affordable used cars? Not anytime soon.

In the auto industry, steel costs, coupled with the ongoing global shortage of computer chips, have resulted in higher prices and empty lots at dealers across the nation. But these issues are creating deeper problems that reach far beyond the major brands.

Used cars have become especially difficult to find. For many Cowetans, a secondhand car is essential to their ability to get to work or school. For many, the “buy here, pay here” used car lot is a vital source of transportation. Historically, these cars have been affordable and accessible. Today, they are far less affordable, and cars are hard to come by.

Roy Jones and his wife Lisa own and operate Cartown Auto Sales in Grantville. They have two lots and a service center that have served the community for more than 15 years. Typically, there have been about 100 cars on their lots with a variety of affordable price points.

But not now.

“Today, we have fewer than 30 vehicles to sell, and they’re expensive,” says Roy. “I have people calling me all day, looking for cars. It’s just killing a lot of the small car lots. We’re fortunate; we’re in good shape, but there are many dealers who’ve had to close.”

The shortage, he says, reflects the fact that new car dealers have started keeping their trade-ins, refurbishing them, and selling them on their own lots to replace lost new car sales.

In addition, traditional auto auctions that are the usual source for used cars have only recently begun to return to in-person auctions.

“This pandemic has been a calamity for the car business,” says Jones. “It’s going to take a long time to recover, and that’s bad for the dealers and for the segment of the public that needs the cars we typically sell.” 

Roy Jones, general manager of Cartown Auto Sales in Grantville, says the car lot that typically held 100 cars now has fewer than 30 due to shortages in the supply chain.

A silver lining: Pets get care faster

Not all lingering effects of the pandemic are bad. Case in point: Moreland Animal Hospital, where COVID-inspired business protocols have enabled them to treat more dogs and cats.

When the pandemic hit, Dr. Nicole Andrews-Kees and her staff began meeting furry patients and their human owners outside and then taking the pets inside for treatment. When the exam is complete, the veterinarian returns pets to owners at their car.

“This process has many benefits, and we’re staying with it,” says Andrews-Kees. “We actually did a survey, and our clients like this process. Our dog and cat patients are less anxious, we’re able to treat many more animals, and our clients still get face time with me to discuss their pets’ issues.”

If it rains?

“We wing it,” she says. “We’ve got plenty of rain gear, but it hasn’t been a problem.”

And why the dramatic increase in clients over the past 18 months?

“Because people are home more, it seems they’re more in tune with their pets,” says the good doctor.

Seems there truly is a silver lining in every cloud. NCM