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Jacob Babb is a Chattanooga-based photographer and writer.
As the son of a small business owner, my first thought in regard to the ongoing quarantine and closing of non-essential businesses due to COVID-19 was “how is this going to affect my dad’s livelihood?” My second thought was “how is this going to affect all small and local business in the country?” I’m not the only who had these thoughts, and I’m not the only one worried about the long-lasting ramifications.
Originally from Nashville, I’ve lived in Chattanooga for seven years now and feel quite at home. From attending UTC to walking the Walnut Street Bridge to enjoying the Nightfall concert series, I can confidently say I’ve become fully acclimated to being a Chattanoogan. However, one of the best parts of this great city is the local businesses and the community around them.
Naturally, the closing of these local businesses has me (and many others) worried about them. One place in particular on my mind is The Bitter Alibi. Serving a full brunch, lunch and dinner menu and operating as a bar at night, this staple of Chattanooga falls into the category of closing all dine-in services as per Executive Order 2020-02. Concerned, I sat down with Jason Bowers and asked how this decision has impacted business.
Jason Bowers is the owner and operator of The Bitter Alibi, The Fix and The Daily Ration. When restaurants and bars had to stop dine-in service, Bowers made the decision to close two days before the official Executive Order. “I’m looking at bigger cities and bigger cities internationally and saying ‘ok if this is really as big of a deal then we’re not going to sit on our hands’” says Bowers. “I would never want it to ever come back on the business or endanger one of our staff members.”
As for the staff there are some worries. Whitney Stevens, a bartender at The Bitter Alibi says, “there’s no real light at the end of the tunnel, so I feel like I’m just living in uncertainty.” Bartenders make most of their money from tips, so less people means less tips at the end of the day. Stevens and the rest of the team remain positive though due to the amazing community response. “Everyone has been great” says Stevens. “They’ve been coming in supporting local beer, obviously our local business, and tipping too.”
Bowers feels the love from the community as well. “Overall everyone has been really supportive. We’ve sold a ton of gift cards and we had a lot of people Venmo our staff some cash in the kitchen” says Bowers. “We’ve been really lucky to feel the support from our regulars.”
Supporting local business is one of the most important things we can do right now as Chattanoogans. Big corporations can afford to take some kind of loss. The same can’t be said for places like The Bitter Alibi. However, Bowers and his team aren’t giving up. “We don’t want to just lay down and go away,” says Bowers. “So, we’re just going to keep fighting, and I feel like that’s everybody’s mentality.”
But maybe there’s some good that can come out of this after all. “Being stronger and feeling more connected to our community is so important,” says Bowers. “We’re all so much more connected and so woven together in this whole thing that hopefully we’ll all wake up and realize that there’s something much greater than ourselves.”
