LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — With loosened COVID-19 restrictions in Arkansas, people are planning to leave home and get outside for the Memorial Day holiday and businesses are gearing up for the rush.
“I am so excited; I can hardly put it into words,” said Samuel Ellis.
Ellis owns Rocktown River Outfitters, and he remembers when he was not able to sell a single bike or kayak in his shop in the River Market.
Last year, around this time, virtually all shops in the entertainment district were forced to half in-person services because of the severity of the pandemic.
“This location was actually shut down for the entire year of covid,” he said. “Because we just bought a bunch of brand-new bikes that we wanted to have everybody rent and explore the river trail, and so I had to move all of the equipment you see behind me.”
Just a block down the road, Rob Byford, owner of the Library Lounge and Kitchen, said he, too, was financially impacted because of the pandemic.
“We are no exception to that. It's been a very tough year for the Library,” Byford said.
This weekend, he is expecting a big crowd of people who are very eager to get back to their normal way of life.
“The River Market, downtown Little Rock, SoMa, Argenta, the areas that have multiple establishments within the walking areas, really depend on the weather to come through and I think it's dialed up perfect for us this weekend,” he said.
For people like Diana Long, Director of River Market Operations at the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, is happy people can come out and safely enjoy the holiday weekend.
“We are super busy, but we are all really, really excited to be super busy again,” she said.
The sight of Arkansans flooding into the River Market is something she could have only imagined 14 months ago.
“There's a lot of people that are regular vendors or regular shoppers or regular visitors down here that we didn’t see for 14 months and it's great, so great to see them back,” she said.
Traffic and an influx of people are expected to be in the area this weekend, so she is urging people to plan ahead, make reservations, if possible, but most of all, have fun!