Market Street Pub and Grill is located at 523 N. Market Blvd. in Chehalis.
Market Street Pub and Grill is located at 523 N. Market Blvd. in Chehalis.
Market Street Pub and Grill is located at 523 N. Market Blvd. in Chehalis.
Tara Bird has done a little bit of everything. She went to college to be an auto technician, then switched to get her associate’s degree in business before somehow ending up as a medical assistant. But time and time again she kept coming back to bartending and serving.
She’s been serving for 20 years and bartending for 14 years. So it made sense for her to buy Market Street Pub and Grill on North Market Boulevard in Chehalis back in August 2018.
“Always ended up in this industry and I always loved it, so one day I just decided I was going to own a place of my own,” Bird said.
It hasn’t been easy being a business owner, however, especially after the novel coronavirus outbreak that hit two months ago. Bird was forced to close the first week after Gov. Jay Inslee announced state restrictions for bars and restaurants on March 15.
“Honestly, it’s a little frustrating,” Bird said. “We’re not a kid-friendly place, so we’re not on the radar for takeout. We do have loyal followers here who have been as supportive as they could possibly be.”
Bird tried to stay open that first week but it was too expensive, she said. The pub and grill has been open for a day or two here and there, but ultimately it’s cost more money to be open than the bar and grill actually brought in. On top of that, if Bird kept employees on even for just one or two shifts per week it was enough for them to lose their unemployment benefits.
“Which isn’t fair to them,” Bird said. “One or two shifts a week isn’t enough to sustain their personal bills, so it’s kind of a rock and a hard place.”
She did get approved for the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which gives small businesses loans to keep their workers employed. But that was over five weeks ago and all she has to show for it as of now is a confirmation number and no funds.
“So instead I decided to just shut it down and do the renovations I’ve been wanting to do from the beginning,” Bird said.
It started with smaller projects that Bird could do herself, such as deep cleaning the entire bar and restaurant. Once the restrictions were extended to May 4 and then later to May 31, she began tackling some of the bigger projects. Now most of her time is filled with refurbishing.
The pub and grill will feature not only a new bartop and table tops, but also a buddy bar on the back wall. The buddy bar has been on Bird’s list from the beginning, the only problem was the wood piece to install needed to be sanded and stained to match everything. They are so heavy it takes six people to move it in and out of the storage unit. Bird’s mother, who’s talented at woodworking, stripped it then sanded and stained it all to match the existing back bar. Bird also moved the chairs that used to be along the long part of the bar to the back wall where the buddy bar is.
Bird has also repainted portions of the inside, replaced electrical wires that were beginning to short out. Being in an older building, there isn’t a whole lot of storage space, so Bird got creative and put a storage bench out front on the patio so she can store things like propane tanks.
A new wheelchair-accessible ramp was also installed on Sunday, as well.
“One of the issues I was finding is a couple of my regulars who are disabled were having a hard time getting in and out of the building,” Bird said. “People can get in and out without struggling.”
It wasn’t cheap upgrading everything, said Bird, who dipped into her savings account to pay for everything. And she’s trying not to bank on the PPP loan to save her.
“I don’t have a whole lot of faith that it’s going to be a forgiven loan like they say it’s going to be,” Bird said. “I’m sure they’re going to find some kind loophole for every single thing to make you accountable for it. No bank wants to actually help. No lender wants to give this money out and recoup their costs.”
Either way, Bird plans to reopen the beginning of next week when her renovations are complete, with or without the loan. Lewis County is still in phase one of Gov. Inslee’s four-phase plan. Phase two will allow restaurants to open up their dinings rooms with 50 percent capacity and cap table sizes at five people. Currently eight Washington state counties are in phase two.
She’s just waiting on one final major project to be complete before she reopens: restoring the under-counter cooler on the back bar. It’s right in the middle of the bar, so there’s no way to work around it until it’s done. After that, the pub and grill will be open for reduced hours for pickup and to-go orders only until the county moves to phase two. The hours are still yet to be decided.
Her employees have the option to come and work any shifts they want to, but she’s not going to force them to put their unemployment in jeopardy.
“I’ll be opening and the one working and I’ll go from there, until we can open to whatever capacity,” Bird said. “Once we open we’ll be good to go and there will be no more small projects.”
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Editor’s Note: The Chronicle is working to assist local businesses suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 virus spread and associated government orders to close or limit commerce. There will be a feature on a local business in each edition of The Chronicle and at chronline.com moving forward. To be considered, email reporter Eric Trent at etrent@chronline.com. Additionally, The Chronicle will continue to offer its coverage of the coronavirus and its effects across the community, state and nation free outside of our paywall at chronline.com.
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Reporter Eric Trent can be reached at etrent@chronline.com. Visit chronline.com/business for more coverage of local businesses.
