UNC students continue to work on Franklin St. despite threats from Florence

With Hurricane Florence hitting parts of the east coast and quickly approaching the Triangle area, Chapel Hill restaurants are remaining open as long as they possibly can, despite many of their student employees evacuating the area. 

Emily Jones, front of house manager at Four Corners, said the restaurant plans to keep regular business hours Friday and Saturday. 

While the impending storm and University’s closing hasn’t yet affected its hours of operation, Jones said Four Corners is operating with a shorter staff as many of their student staff members took the University’s advice and evacuated the area. 

Pete Dorrance, an owner at Lula’s, said their plan is to remain open as long as possible. Dorrance said around 80 percent of the front of house staff at Lula’s is students, and while some of the student staff members have left, the University’s decision to close has affected their customer population more than anything. 

Dorrance said he couldn’t tell the younger staff not to evacuate if they felt the need to do so. 

“We definitely won’t stand in the way of what the kids want to do — what they need to do — to stay safe,” Dorrance said. 

With the path the storm is on now, Dorrance said he hopes Lula’s won't lose power or have any reason to close, but that decision will have to wait. 

“It’s a moving target, just like this storm is a moving target,” he said. 

Julian Khater, co-owner of Frutta Bowls, said about 80 percent of its staff is students, and several of them have made their way out of Chapel Hill in hopes of avoiding the storm. 

Khater said the storm has affected their ability operate, but he and his two brothers will be sure the restaurant stays open as long as it’s safe and they have power.

“We’re going to play it by ear, and we’re going to make the safest decision for us and our customers,” Khater said. 

While most restaurants are continuing to operate with less staff, some businesses required their staff members to come to work as they were scheduled, as long as the weather allows. 

UNC Junior Brianna Cross is a server at Might As Well Bar & Grille, and she said since the bar decided to stay open until the storm prevented them from operating, she and her co-workers had to stay in town to work their shifts. 

Cross said their shifts are scheduled a week in advance, which was before the storm was a factor. She said staff at Might As Well had been scheduled in preparation for the football game that was planned for Saturday, not a possible hurricane. 

Despite the game being cancelled and the amount of customers dropping, Cross said she and her co-workers were still expected to show up at work. With the bar staffed for the game, Cross said there was no way to get anyone to cover her shifts, since almost everyone was already scheduled to work. 

Cross said she understands that for a business to make money, it has to be open, but she questions whether remaining fully staffed will be worth it with so much of the town already evacuated. 

“I understand where they’re coming from, obviously it’s a business,” she said. “But at the same time, we’re in a college town, and a lot of our business comes from college students who were told repeatedly to evacuate.”

Jessica Calland, a UNC junior, works at Hickory Tavern in Carrboro and also had to stay in town for work. Calland said Hickory Tavern is located in the same building as a large hotel, so they weren’t worried about losing power because they have access to power generators. 

Calland said her bosses were understanding of those who felt the need to go home, but only to an extent. Because they plan to operate in normal hours, Calland said they expected their staff to work their shifts as long as they could safely get to work.

Calland said she thought she’d feel happier and more comfortable if she were able to be home with her family in Charlotte, N.C. because she knew they are probably more prepared than she can afford to be. But she understands that it is her place of work, and they are going to need staff members if they continue to operate.

“They’re not directly sacrificing our safety,” she said. “But I can tell that it’s definitely company-first versus employees.”

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