Businesses feel weight of staffing shortages as summer crowds return
By Andrew James
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HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — As usual on the second Saturday of each month during the summer, Main Street in Hendersonville was a busy place Saturday, July 10, for the Love Hendo event. City leaders created the event as a way to support downtown businesses during the pandemic.
But as more people return to their pre-pandemic ways, local businesses are finding it hard to keep up as they feeling the crunch of ongoing staffing shortages.
Several restaurants displayed “Help wanted” signs as they catered to large crowds, a mixture of locals and tourists alike.
“Most of our restaurants and stores are looking for employees and where they can find them, it has had some impacts, they’re all resilient though and they’re making things work,” said Downtown Hendersonville Manager Jamie Carpenter.
Managers at Hannah Flanagan’s Pub and Eatery told News 13 it’s been all hands on deck as they work with a smaller staff.
“We wear a lot of hats; we do the dishes, we do serving, we do hostessing. We’ve done everything this whole pandemic,” said Stephanie Sizemore.
The restaurant has cut back on capacity to not overwhelm the kitchen, and it’s slowly moving back to regular hours and staffing levels.
“It’s kind of hit-or-miss — you might hire three servers, two might stay, one might leave,” said Tammi Duckett.
Black Rose Public House has been dealing with similar issues. Alaina Ellis told News 13 the restaurant lost about half its staff during the pandemic.
“Every single place is understaffed, and I would just wish that you would be patient while we try to re-staff everybody,” said Ellis.
Restaurant workers said they are excited for the uptick in business, but ask for patience and understanding from patrons as they work through the staffing shortages.
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