WESTERN MASS. – Two of Gov. Charlie Baker’s more controversial measures to fight the spread of coronavirus recently came to an end, news that was met with mixed reactions from local businesses.

Baker announced the cessation of both the commonwealth’s overnight stay at home advisory as well as the mandated early closing time of 9:30 p.m. for many businesses Jan. 21, citing public health data that was “trending in better directions in some categories like hospitalizations and percent of positive COVID cases for the first time in a long time.”

The governor said as of his press conference that day, since the beginning of January, hospitalizations were down 10 percent, the average positive test rate had decreased 33 percent and the seven-day average of cases had fallen approximately 30 percent.

“We all know that we are not out of the woods yet by any means, but things do appear to be getting a bit better here in Massachusetts,” Baker said.

The mandatory early closing time was put into effect in early November 2020 in the midst of spiking case and hospitalization rates, impacted, among others, restaurants, liquor stores and adult-use marijuana retail establishments, casinos, museums, theaters, indoor and outdoor events, and amateur sporting events and outdoor recreational activities.

While these restrictions have been lifted, capacity for these businesses will remain capped at 25 percent until at least Feb. 8. The 25 percent capacity limit has been in place since Dec. 26, 2020.

“As hospitals continue to stabilize after the holidays and the average positive case rate declines, we hope to see those trends continue moving forward and if they do, we will be back to talk about lifting some of the restrictions that are currently in place as soon as it makes sense to do so so that people can get back to work and back to normal over the coming months,” Baker said.

For many area businesses that spoke with Reminder Publishing, the capacity limits have been more constraining than early closing mandates.

Since the pandemic began Lisa Lafreniere, co-owner of Skyline Beer Co. in Westfield, said they have not been open after 9 p.m.

“We have not been open later than 9 p.m. since the pandemic started (we used to stay open until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday), it is nice to know that if we see the demand increase until 10 p.m., we can do so,” she said.

Lafreniere added that her biggest concern is removing the 25 percent capacity limit.

“We need the 25 percent capacity to increase as at least three days a week we are turning away customers and now is not the time to be doing that. We have our hands full trying to fill the seats to begin with during this time,” she said.

The Still Bar & Grill in Agawam is hopeful that, with extended hours, a brighter future sits on the horizon. After being anchored by Baker’s mandatory early closing time, owner Rebecca Maslar announced that the bar will now stay open until midnight every day.

“Our sales were reduced by 35 percent with the curfew,” said Maslar. “We’re hoping that we can reclaim some of that.”

According to Maslar, The Still’s 55 employees lost around one-third of their entire income, due to Baker’s mandate.

“Now imagine your boss telling you that your salary will be reduced by 30 percent,” said Maslar. “Would you be able to eat?”

With those regained hours, Maslar said that her employees will “finally” be able to make some of that money back.

“If our sales are down by 30 percent, then their money is also down by 30 percent,” said Maslar. “That’s an entire shift taken away from the hospitality industry.”

Over the course of the past year, The Still has made numerous adjustments to the overall makeup of their bar. Due to the design of the plaza and the parking lot, the bar was unable to provide extra outdoor seating when they were allowed to reopen. They could not spread out tables for more than 24 people in an outdoor setting.

The bar also had to invest large amounts of money to have signs made, and purchase extra sanitization and cleaning equipment for employees.

“There was quite a large extra expense just to get open when we finally were able to,” said Maslar, who was allowed to reopen the bar officially on June 28.

According to Maslar, the 25 percent capacity limit is still difficult, especially when people have to sometimes wait in their cars to come in on the weekends. Despite this, Maslar said that they are “luckier than most” because they have the ability to move tables indoors. Their seating capacity, even with the 25 percent limit, is 102. It is 410 in a normal world. They keep tables reserved, so if they are getting close to that number of 102, then the bar will take tables out-of-service just so there is no cause for overlap.

“The hospitality industry has really taken it on the chin,” said Maslar, with regard to Baker’s decision-making over the past year. “The problem is in one speech, Gov. Baker said that the spread isn’t coming from restaurants. And in the exact same speech, he went ahead and cut our capacity down.”

Maslar said that less than 2 percent of COVID-19 spread is coming from restaurants. Baker, who stated in many briefings that COVID-19 spread started in homes, continued to impose harsh restrictions on businesses across the state.

“The nice thing about a hospitality industry is, if you’re short hours, you can go pick up shifts at other establishments,” said Maslar. “That option was taken away from our employees. Meanwhile, the governor gets a raise.”

As The Still readjusts to their reality, Maslar said that their goal is to provide a “high-quality” product to family and friends, and hopefully get live music back.

“Our employees are family to me, and watching them all go through this was the worst part,” said Maslar. Reservations are strongly encouraged at The Still, for the moment. You can make one by visiting https://thestillma.com.

Meanwhile, for Janna Mediterranean Juice Bar & Grill in West Springfield, the goal is to now encourage people to dine at their restaurant safely. Ali Bakri, the owner of the restaurant, said that the curfew was “unnecessary,” because he would see people out on the streets after 9:30 p.m.

“To be honest, this curfew was a joke,” said Bakri. “But now, we hope to at least try and encourage people to come in, and make sure everything is sanitized and safe for them.”

According to Bakri, the past year has not been “pleasant” for the Mediterranean grill. They had to cut a lot of expenses and hours to make sure the restaurant could survive. Bakri also made sure his employees were in a safe and protected realm.

“We focused a lot on pickup and delivery,” said Bakri. “I wasn’t pushing a lot to having people coming in, for their safety and ours.”

With the curfew lifted, Bakri will keep the restaurant open until 10 p.m. on the weekdays and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

“I believe from day one, they should have just shut down everything for two weeks,” said Bakri, with regard to the COVID-19 response. “I would rather be closed for two weeks than be hurt for eight or nine months.”

While certain aspects of his restaurant return to normal, Bakri will continue to encourage customers to wear masks, stay sanitized, and practice proper social distancing.

“I encourage everyone to follow the rules, and I think we should be able to get back to normal pretty shortly,” said Bakri.

Janna is now open for dine-in, takeout and delivery.

Two Weeks Notice Brewing Co. co-owner and head brewer Mark Avery said the early closing mandate didn’t have a major impact on business, but the capacity mandates continue to be a challenge. With 25 percent capacity equalling 38 patrons, revenue isn’t nearly as strong as it could be, even on a busy night, he explained.

“It’s kind of a bizarro world. We’ll have all of our tables and the two spots at the bar filled and we’ll think, ‘Oh, great, we’re full,’ and then I’ll look at the sales for the night and it’s a totally different story,” Avery said. “We’re doing well enough, but we’re certainly not as profitable as we were at this point last year.”

Avery said there have been times when the brewery has had a line of patrons waiting for a table and while he is appreciative for people’s support and patience, it is also a reminder of how much potential revenue is being lost.

To make up some of the difference, the brewery conducts drive-thru beer sales on Wednesdays. Avery and team member Jeremy Leary have also been slowly introducing the beer to area liquor stores through self-distribution.

With the relaxation of some of the restrictions, Avery said he is hopeful that the situation will continue to improve.

“I think for sure we’re trending in the right direction,” he said. “I don’t know if full capacity is going to happen any time soon – probably not until at least the summer and maybe after the summer – but we’re going to be heading the right direction soon I think.”

Fernando Perez, a manager at El Comalito in Easthampton, told Reminder Publishing that he has noticed that many restaurants in the area close before the 9:30 curfew, so now that Baker ended it, it still does not mean much for them.

Perez said before the curfew he noticed the traffic at his restaurant would slow down between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. but now that his business is more known and the curfew is lifted, he will stay open later to see if more customers come in later.

Jim Ingram, the owner of Mt. Tom’s Homemade Ice Cream and Candy Store, said that these restrictions do not affect him at the moment; instead he has had to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic and not necessarily Baker’s measures.

He shared the store does not stay open past 9:30 p.m. this time of the year and while the capacity limit for the state remains the same, he has not allowed indoor seating or any customers in the store since the pandemic started. Currently, patrons can place orders online or walk-up to the door where an employee will assist them.

Ingram and his staff have had conversations around whether or not they should allow people inside the store but to maintain the safety of the staff and customers their doors will remain closed to the public.

He shared that the two things he has been working on are how to serve everyone yet keep everyone safe and how to keep their sales up.

“We offer a make your own sundae kit which is a huge hit, we did something similar for Thanksgiving take-out, right now we are doing a hot fudge brownie sundae kit for Valentine’s Day. Just a lot of things to keep the social media traffic up and I think people were just hungry for things to do at home with their families,” he said.