Coronavirus News

New Walmart one-way aisles lead the latest Dallas COVID-19 news

Courtesy photo

With the coronavirus pandemic, every day brings something new — a new grocery store strategy, new symptoms of the disease, a new tally of cases confirmed.

Here's an update on COVID-19 developments around the Dallas-Fort Worth area:

Corona cases
Here are the total number of coronavirus cases in each county, as of April 26:

Collin County, the total number of confirmed cases to date is 663, including 187 current cases, 459 who have recovered, and 17 who have died.
Dallas County, the total number of confirmed cases to date is 3014, including 82 deaths. Of those 82 deaths about 40 percent have been associated with longterm care facilities.
Tarrant County, the total number of confirmed cases to date is 1947, including 283 who have recovered, and 53 who have died.

State action
More states in the U.S. are lifting lockdowns, despite the fact that the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is approaching 1 million, with 55,000 deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to make some kind of announcement on April 27 regarding the lockdown status in Texas. Anecdotally, it seemed like more people around DFW were out and about, and not all with masks. Big groups were playing disc golf at Arcadia Park in Fort Worth, and most Home Depot stores seemed to be mobbed.

New symptoms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added six new symptoms that might indicate COVID-19. Existing symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. These six symptoms could also be indicators:

chills
repeated shaking with chills
muscle pain
headache
sore throat
new loss of taste or smell

With a limited number of test kits available, those seeking a test must first show symptoms.

Walmart one way
On April 23, Walmart stores changed their model to one-way aisles. One-way aisles are designed to increase social distancing and give customers more space on each aisle. The idea started in Florida with the Publix chain and has become a trend at some big grocery store chains.

Floor decals are installed at each aisle to indicate the direction of the traffic flow: Green decals say "Shop This Way," and red decals say "Do Not Shop This Way."

Are they working? Some shoppers seem to think that you are now required to go through the entire store, as if you are on an amusement park ride, instead of simply skipping an aisle if there's nothing you want. Others who don't look at the floor aren't seeing the decals at all.

But overall they seem to be reducing congestion. If you want to pass someone, you now don't have to worry about someone coming at you in the other direction.

PPP updates
Ruth's Hospitality Group is returning its $20 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, in response to new federal guidelines suggesting that publicly traded companies are ineligible because they can get funds from other sources. "We intended to repay this loan in adherence with government guidelines," Ruth's said in a statement. "As we learned more about the funding limitations of the program and the unintended impact, we have decided to accelerate that repayment."

Shake Shack also returned its $10 million loan, and Potbelly returned its $10 million loan.

But Ashford Inc., Ashford Hospitality Trust, and Braemar Hotels & Resorts, led by Monty Bennett of Dallas, who has become the "face of the PPP loan debacle," after receiving $69 million (according to USA Today), is not returning the money, saying in a statement that they'll use the money to protect jobs. "Media concerns over our receipt of PPP funds are misplaced," the statement said.

health

Coworking News

New-style coworking concept Switchyards from Atlanta to open in Dallas

Switchyards

A new kind of shared workspace is coming to Dallas: Called Switchyards, it's an Atlanta based chain that calls itself "the world’s first neighborhood work club," and it will open in Oak Cliff at 610 N. Tyler St., in the space most previously occupied by Boxwood Hospitality (Cliff House), and Good Shepherd Church, which is moving to Wax Space.

According to a statement, it'll open on August 25.

Switchyards was founded in 2019 by CEO Michael Tavani with a goal of creating “a place in your neighborhood purpose-built to sit with your laptop, grab a coffee, and get some good work done.” There are currently 29 locations including a dozen around Atlanta, plus locations across the southeast. There's also a location in Austin, which opened in mid-June.

They describe themselves as a combination of a coffee shop, college library, and boutique hotel lobby, located in residential neighborhoods. Unlike some other co-working concepts that are in business areas requiring a commute, Switchyards strives to be within 10 minutes of its members' homes.

Each club features a bustling coffee shop look and feel, with quiet areas for focused work, and bookable conference rooms and phone booths for meetings.

Notably, it’s open 24/7, and has free coffee with a cost — $100 a month — that's more like a gym membership. You're given a key and can enter whenever you want. Rather than renting offices, it's a place to go to for a few hours of focused work around others. And members get access to every Switchyards location.

They have some groundrules that include not moving the furniture, no eating full meals (we believe the smells and the mess create a negative experience for everyone else in the club), no work stations, no calls or meetings in quiet spaces, and no speakerphone calls or zooms in public spaces.

Memberships are generally limited and supposedly sell out quickly.

They just opened a location in Austin in mid-June; Switchyards Creative Director Brandon Hinman said “It’s almost like a Ritz-Carlton and a dive bar had a baby. It does have that luxe feel, it does feel generous, it does feel dialed in, but it also has a little bit of ‘Cheers’ to it, a little bit of that neighborhood pub to it, and that’s the balance we’re trying to hit.”

oak-cliff trends openings