LIHU‘E – Sudz Car Wash Lihu‘e manager Billy Parker was excited to see a line of cars awaiting a scrub on Wednesday, when both the Lihu‘e and Kapa‘a branches of the business staged a special COVID-19 car wash event.
The business has been open since Monday, while many businesses got the go-ahead to reopen today. That’s because Sudz got the OK to open early from Kaua‘i Mayor Derek Kawakami.
Sudz Car Wash still isn’t offering their detailing service, but they’re offering currently offering a $10 basic and plus wash for the community.
“We put in our own safety precautions before the Governor OK-ed it and sent it off to the Mayor. Once the Mayor gave us the okay to open we opened on Monday making sure our staff were wearing face masks and are practicing social distancing,” said Parker as employees went to work on Wednesday.
Parker said the company is taking sanitizing precautions seriously. They’ve cleaned all of the higher traffic areas in their building and vacuumed five times a day.
Many other businesses are opening their doors today, thanks to Governor David Ige’s seventh proclamation relating to COVID-19. This proclamation works on the concept of reopening Hawai‘i’s economy in three phases, starting with the sectors that are the lowest-risk for the spread of COVID-19.
Among the sectors allowed to reopen today are agriculture (non-food), such as landscape, ornamental plant growers, and nurseries, auto dealerships, car washes, childcare services, licensed or authorized under the law, pet grooming services, observatories, support facilities, retail and repair services such as apparel, florists, watch and surfboard repair, and shopping malls.
Ohana Motors is another business that reopened a few days earlier than the first flight of Phase 1 business openings.
Manager Russell McCluskey Jr. said the business was closed for three weeks and opened up on May 1.
“We are excited, we were closed for three weeks and worked on getting the paycheck protection loan, that’s how we got everyone to come back to work,” said McCluskey Jr.
