BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. — Wyandotte County will re-evaluate its mask requirement at a meeting Thursday. It remains in place due to the county's low vaccination rate.
That's affecting business owners within the county, including one woman who owns and operates stores in different counties in the Kansas City area.
Summer is porch season, so the Porch Swing in Bonner Springs is preparing for its busiest season.
"I think it's kind of an experience when you come here and shop and it's just about beauty and being happy and getting out," owner Heather McCarty said.
Bonner Springs is one of two Porch Swing shops. The other is in Greenwood, Missouri.
That's where Heather's headaches begin as a small business owner.
"It’s kind of been a struggle here in our Bonner Springs location, which is part of Wyandotte County, because we still have the mask mandate going on here and Jackson County, they lifted that a couple weeks ago, and we've seen increased traffic in our stores on the weekends and sales have gone up at the store where they're not having to wear their masks," she said.
McCarty added that the Greenwood store is seeing five times more sales compared to Bonner Springs, which is affecting her Kansas-based vendors.
"There are about 80 vendors between both of my locations, so I'm not the only small business here that's being impacted," she said. "All of their businesses and sales are being impacted as well."
As Wyandotte County prepares to meet Thursday to reassess its mask ordinance, first lady Jill Biden will visit Metropolitan Community College for a vaccine clinic as the White House says it's shifting to a hyper-local approach on the ground.
"Community by community, zip code by zip code, census tract by census tract, and developing strategies that work," White House Vaccine Coordinator Dr. Bechara Choucair said. "The partnership with community colleges is one example, because we know community colleges play such an important role in our communities. They're great assets. They disproportionately serve people of color and adults of all ages."
McCarty said she's having flashbacks to last year when she closed her doors. Now, she's worried one of two locations will suffer.
"I still have that in the back of my mind, that if I had to let go of something that wasn't working, it would have to be here," she said. "And it kind of breaks my heart because Wyandotte is my hometown."
The Bonner Springs store also has an event space that McCarty rents out for occasions like baby showers, but she said interest has decreased dramatically with masks still required inside.
