Some Georgia business owners say it's too soon to reopen

ATLANTA - Some local business owners in Atlanta say they are in no rush to reopen their doors, despite the announcement from Governor Brian Kemp Monday afternoon. 

The Governor announced some businesses, including gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, beauty shops and salons, barbershops, and others will be allowed to open Friday, April 24. Restaurants and movie theaters would be allowed to begin dine-in services on Monday, April 27.

Michael Michaelides, the owner of Crossfit Downtown Atlanta, says he is not in a hurry to reopen the gym. 

"We are taking very deliberate steps to open in our own safe way. All the things that we're going to do is going to be thought out, measured, deliberate, with safety in mind," Michaelides said. 

The gym has moved to virtual classes for the last several weeks and it'll stay that way until they're ready to reopen. 

"I don't want us to be in such a hurry to reopen that we have to end up closing for longer," Michaelides said. 

In addition to gyms and bowling alleys, salons are also able to open their doors on Friday.. 

Local salon owner and stylist Laura Goddard says she believes it's too soon to reopen businesses. 

She owns the Laura Goddard Hair Salon. 

"I can get my nails done, I can go to the gym, I can go to a movie, I can get my hair done. I can do all of those things now in one day. And the amount of people that come in and out of our chair in a day, we don't know who all they've been in contact with," Goddard said. 

In addition, Goddard says her she doesn't even have what she needs to keep herself, her employees and clients safe. 

"We don't have access to PPE. I didn't preorder anything because I didn't want to take it away from the people who need it," Goddard said. 

Starting Monday, restaurants and movie theaters will be allowed to open with certain restrictions, which have not yet been announced. 

Similar to Michaelides and Goddard, Tom Murphy, the owner of Murphy's says he won't be going back to dine-in so soon. 

"Sometimes, being the first into a market is called success, that could be not the case in this situation."

When the time comes, Murphy says the decision will be calculated and include the input of health professionals.

"We have one real shot of doing it right. Making sure first and foremost that we're following the guidelines of the CDC," Murphy said. "There's just so many things that go into opening a restaurant, from rehiring, retraining,  and giving the team the support they need but also setting them up for success, not only in a quality safe environment but in a healthy environment."