What it looks like as Coachella Valley businesses prepare to move into the Orange Tier

As of Monday, Riverside County is still in the red tier but with our current case rate and positivity rate continuing to improve there’s a chance we could move into the orange “moderate” tier on Tuesday which would most likely go into effect on Wednesday.

News Channel 3’s Caitlin Thropay explained what businesses would be impacted the most in this tier advancement.

The biggest change we could see coming this week would be for bars to reopen outdoors.

“We have a lot of questions about what it means for bars to move into the orange tier,” owner of Chill Bar in Palm Springs Rob Giesecke told News Channel 3.

His bar added a kitchen and food to their menu to be able to stay open as a restaurant.

Under the orange tier, bars would be able to reopen outdoors with modifications.

See bar guidance here: https://covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/#restaurants

“We’re sort of still wondering whether or not that means customers who are outside can be outside without ordering food with their drinks and then the indoor customers still need to order food so we’re still navigating that," Giesecke said.

“The first thing we’re going to do is adjust the food purchases downward because there are going to be a lot of people who are going to come and just have a drink,” he added.

Owner of Blackbook restaurant, Dean Lavine shared how the orange tier would impact his business.

“We’ve been incredibly blessed to have good business for the last few months; Palm Springs has been a boom town and so the challenge for us will be in terms of getting proper staffing," Lavine said.

Lavine also said he is looking to hire cooks, servers, and bardtenders so if you are looking for a job reach out to him for open positions.

Giesecke said what will be an even bigger impact than bars being able to reopen outdoors is the change for restaurants moving from 25 to 50 percent capacity in the orange tier.

“I would say probably furniture and equipment is even more of a challenge than staffing," Giesecke said. "Looking at any restaurant supplies you need right now or furniture supplies; everything is sold out," he added.

Giesecke is turning the nightclub portion of his bar into a restaurant that'll be open this weekend.

While restaurants and bars navigate these upcoming changes, another big change in the orange tier would mean bowling alleys could reopen with modifications.

Fantasy Springs announced on Monday they will be opening their bowling alley on Friday, April 9 at 10 a.m. They'll be operating at 30 percent capacity. Call (760) 238-5700 to reserve your lane.

For more information visit: https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/