“I might own the three worst businesses right now: a hair salon, a movie theater, and a restaurant.” 

These are the words that begin my interview with Leigh Lindsay, owner of Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse and Salon Fin. 

“During the great depression, movie theaters and hair salons were the two businesses that did the best: because people wanted to escape reality and go to the movies, and they always wanted to get their hair done. So I was like, ‘Yeah! I’m invincible right now!’ But not during a pandemic.”

The onset of Coronavirus in the United States caused the temporary closing of all Leigh’s businesses except for the distillery, which has been providing takeout for about two months. 

“You basically have to be prepared for a catastrophe. You need to have yourself set up in a way financially, even if you really want to go buy the new truck for delivery, or give everybody bonuses, you should have enough money tucked away that you can survive and you can protect your people. This is of a magnitude that’s just insane,” she says. 

“I remember having three or four very frantic meetings as we watched what went on in the world and tried to figure out a plan. We called all the restaurants and I guess the big answer was like, ‘I don’t know.’ What do you do? None of us have ever been through this before.”

Restaurants like Zoetropolis greatly rely on the availability of suppliers to keep them in business. 

But, Leigh says,  “the supply chain is broken. I think that’s been the most upsetting thing. If we need bottles we call the bottle place and they’re like, ‘The truckers are laid off.’ The people aren’t working in the bottle companies, we don’t have the people on the phones. So everything took five times longer until the whole world caught up with us. We ran out of vodka right away. Then we needed labels, and then we needed the little pieces of paper that go on top of the labels, and the printers are down.”

As for the hair salon? “We’re phase last.”

For the first time in her life, Leigh is collecting unemployment checks. She doesn’t earn money from Zoetropolis, and the forced closure of the salon has cut off her income entirely. 

“I think we’re in it for the long haul. If you stand up in the atmosphere and look at earth and you’re like, ‘oh, a pandemic is running through it.’ Do you think it’s gonna end in two months? Probably not.”

“It definitely helps to stay calm and follow the rules.” she adds. “It doesn’t really do anybody any favors to be putting everyone’s lives at risk. I want this to be over as much as everybody else.”

Leigh says that Zoetropolis used the PPP loan to keep their Chef and General manager on payroll. PPP, or Paycheck Protection Program, is a loan from the Small Business Administration designed to provide incentive for small businesses to keep employees. “Which is good for businesses because you want to keep paying people.” she adds. “Then everyone’s not taking unemployment.”

Despite loans like the PPP, Zoetropolis and small businesses across the county have been forced to fire employees. “We laid off 38 and we have 6 or 7 back on now.” Leigh says. 

“They’re saying that 60% of the restaurants in Lancaster are gonna close. Where are all those people gonna work?”

“I feel, moving on, that this is going to be how it’s going to be for the next two years. It’s just going to be hard to be a waitress with a mask on and gloves all the time.”