Gary-New Duluth Businesses Impacted by COVID-19 Shutdown

Triple J Service Center and Family Dollar talk about how the pandemic has affected stores

DULUTH, Minn. – Businesses have struggled across the Northland during the pandemic.

Some businesses have been closed for nearly two months under Minnesota’s Stay at Home Order.

Other shops have remained opened during the pandemic. While some of those stores have seen an increase in business, for others it’s been much slower.

Triple J Service Center has struggled during the state’s shutdown. At one point, it went two weeks without a customer.

“It really hurt,” says Triple J owner Jay Fineout. “There was a lot of days where we were just searching for something to do to keep everybody working and keep things rolling in the shop.”

But recently, business has picked up for the auto repair shop on Commonwealth Avenue in Gary-New Duluth.

“It seems like with the warmer temps now in the evenings, definitely people are out and about more,” says Fineout.

Triple J has been open for two-and-a-half years. The shop had been seeing a steady uptick in business before the pandemic. Fineout hopes that continues again as more restrictions are lifted and more drivers hit the roads.

“You can tell from the motorcycles that are driving around and the vehicles and boat traffic, you can definitely see the increase in traffic,” he explains.

Meanwhile, just down the road, Family Dollar saw a surge in business when the Stay at Home Order took effect.

“We’d get a lot of people, we get long lines, and we’d run out of products really quick,” explains assistant manager Janelle Richardson.

Now, it’s not quite as busy, but the store is still selling a lot of products to people in the Gary-New Duluth area.

“A lot of people that live out here don’t want to go to West Duluth or to Walmart, so they come out here, and we’ve got pretty much everything,” says Richardson.

Family Dollar has cut back its hours a little. They now close at 8 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.

Staff say they’re focused on maintaining social distancing between customers and thoroughly cleaning surfaces every day.

Minnesota’s Stay at Home Order is in effect through May 18th.

Restrictions have gradually eased since it was issued in mid-March.

Last week, Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) allowed retail and other non-essential businesses to open for curbside pickup.