AKRON, Ohio — It’s been almost a week and a half since the grand jury made its decision in the Jayland Walker case. Just recently – Akron City Hall and the city’s Municipal Court reopened their doors.
Some may feel the scene in Downtown Akron is painting a picture that things are back to normal. But local restaurants in the area tell News 5 they’re far from it.
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“People are starting to come back, but we still need a lot more people to come back to downtown,” said Crave General Manager, Aaron Francis.
Since the grand jury’s decision in the Jayland Walker case, Crave General Manager Aaron Francis says his business hasn’t experienced any issues, which he says is a big relief.
“Worst thing that would happen is, everything happened that people feared would and then it would drag on for three, four weeks into a month and that would just cripple Downtown Akron,” said Francis.
Thankfully, Francis says this isn’t the case for his restaurant as they’re seeing an increase in numbers this week as opposed to last week.
Still, Francis says more is needed, and he remains optimistic for the future.
“We’re hoping to get back to some normalcy here. Get our numbers back up and get more customers in the door,” said Francis. “We just want to see the crowds of people come down especially because we’re looking forward to a busy summer.”
Now, as you move further along Main Street, some of those businesses are still boarded up and the workers tell News 5 they’re doing it as a safety precaution.
“We still have the boards up just as a precautionary thing. We’re still here for the community,” said Tear-Ez Bar Manager, Wesley Simmons. “We’re just kind of hunkering down and seeing what happens next.”
At Tear-Ez, Bar Manager Wesley Simmons says their business, like many others along Main Street, is still recovering from COVID-19.
When events like protests happen, he says it does make things a little more challenging, but he too is choosing to stay positive.
“Hopefully, we can start getting more bodies in here and just start filling up seats, but until that happens, until everyone has said what they need to say and feel what they need to feel, we’re here,” said Simmons.
