LENEXA, Kan. — Events with more than 10 people will slowly resume in the next couple of months. That is putting one group back in business.
Party rental companies were forced to shut down when the pandemic began.
AAA Party Rental owner, Mary Dee Rychnovsky, said phone lines were quiet for several weeks.
"It’s been pretty devastating as far as that goes," Rychnovsky said. "The very first five weeks were cancellations, so they kept moving further and further out as this progressed, so it’s been hard."
However, as more things are opening back up now, so is business.
While the last few months were quiet, Rychnovsky said late summer and early fall are still standing strong with events.
Each employee who was laid off will be able to return back to work when the rental company opens their doors on Wednesday.
"Thank goodness we did get in on the first round of funding, so we did get that, so that’s been instrumental in me being able to get our people back up and running," she said.
Many of the calls they've received lately have been wedding parties rescheduling events and parents whose children are graduating in need of tents.
"We’ve got configurations and things like that so our sales reps are ready to go and can answer questions figuring out social distance, what’s the best way things flow," Rychnovsky said.
One of the changes happening when they open is showroom viewings.
"You know our showroom used to be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. And it's still open to 4:30 p.m., but it's going to be in store appointment only," Rychnovsky said. "And so we've got areas quartered off so that we can take just a certain amount of people that come in."
Inside their warehouse, instead of working in groups, employees will each have their own station to practice social distancing. They're cleaning certain items to make sure equipment is sanitized before going out.
Another thing they're doing different is employees are not going inside any of the homes, in order to look out for the health and safety for both the employees and clients.
"Nobody’s going in houses or anything like that and if it’s just chairs and tables and that sort of thing, dropping it off at the door," Rychnovsky said.
Hand sanitizers are also used at each employee's stations. Masks and gloves are required while working.
Rychnovsky said with their rental equipment, they've always used a bleach solution to clean tents, and that continues to be ramped up as more people call in and ask for items.
We've created a Facebook group, We're Open Kansas City, where members of the community can post businesses serving their community.
