Valley businesses close doors, change procedures due to COVID-19

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Local businesses are feeling the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Some are even shutting down for the time being.

We spoke to businesses closing temporarily and others stepping up cleanliness efforts and limiting customer contact. All of them have the same goal: to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

An empty club is not the scene that owner of Club Legend, Jeff Hough, ever envisioned on a Saturday, but it's a decision he made amid growing coronavirus concerns.

"It just kind of hit me, if it's like this right now, what's it going to be like in a couple of weeks?" said Hough.

The popular Fresno club can have up to 400 people stop by on a busy night.

"Realistically with the people coming in, it's a nightclub environment, a lot of people," described Hough. "I didn't want people coughing, sneezing on each other. I just thought it was the right thing to do."

Other businesses like Quesadilla Gorilla are changing their procedures.

"We've been focusing on things that are protecting our community," said Operations Director Jimmy Clark. "Sanitizing places that customers touch and may not realize, backs of chairs, door handles."

The restaurant is also limiting contact between guests and employees by having employees fill out all paper tickets for customers.

They also made the switch to prepackaged disposable utensils.

"It's our civic duty as a small business to make sure our community is safe and secondly that our staff is safe," said Clark. "We want to make it a safe place for people to come and eat."

They say the new order system has caused some slight slow downs.

"We've gotten all positive reactions even though the wait times are a little bit longer," said Clark. "People are understanding the reasons we're taking this precaution is just for their safety."

They're also canceling or postponing all catering events.

Club Legends tells us they hope to be back open in two to three weeks.