Uncertainty For Moorestown Businesses Amid Cononavirus Outbreak

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The Moorestown Mall has taken steps to create a safe and secure environment for staff and customers amid the outbreak of new coronavirus cases in New Jersey.

Other businesses are deciding what their next step should be after Gov. Phil Murphy announced that non-essential businesses would shut down at 8 p.m. Monday to prevent the further spread of the disease.

“We’re still trying to sort things out,” Cathy’s Carryout Cuisine owner Cathy Gunn said. “People are ordering to go and curbside delivery, but we’re trying to figure out the next step. We want to make sure our service is good for everyone, and make sure we’re doing what’s best for our employees.”

She said business has been difficult for the last two weeks, but they were pretty busy over the weekend. The question of where to go from here is a difficult one many business owners are facing.

On Monday morning, Murphy said all movie theaters, restaurants, gyms and casinos in New Jersey will close in an attempt to flatten the curve of the spread. It's not clear when these businesses will be allowed to reopen fully, but restaurants will be permitted to offer take-out. Read more here: NJ Coronavirus: Bars, Restaurants, Theaters To Shut

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Blue Fig Cafe is asking its customers what it should do.

“Many restaurants in the area are starting to offer home delivery,” the owners said in a Facebook post. “Please let us here at Blue Fig know if this is a service you would like us to offer. We appreciate your patronage and want to do our best to serve you as well as we can. If you want home delivery, we will make it happen! Let us know!”

Maurizio’s Bistro is among the businesses that said it will remain open for pick up, delivery and curbside pick up. It closed its dine-in service on Monday until further notice. Menus are available online.

Harvest Season Grill is offering curbside takeout, delivery via Uber Eats, with no delivery fee and DoorDash. They are offering 10 percent off all gift card purchases in-store and online.

The Moorestown Mall has become a hub for restaurants and bars in the township. It didn’t have a statement about the governor’s announcement on Monday, but it had already canceled scheduled appearances by the Easter Bunny. The children’s play area was closed until further notice.

Burlington County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kristi Howell expects quite a few restaurants throughout the county to feel the impact, and said the chamber would do the best it could to mitigate the impact. She said it was difficult to predict what that impact would be.

“We’ve never dealt with anything like this before,” Howell said.

The chamber was set to meet Monday afternoon to decide how to proceed.