Businesses still struggling as city of Richmond announces ‘Water Recovery Week’

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond businesses are still feeling the impact of the water crisis as the city announces “Let It Flow” -- its Water Recovery Week -- to help boost sales. City leaders are encouraging residents to go out and support local shops and restaurants starting Friday, Jan. 24, through Friday, Jan. 31. This comes after a six-day period where residents, businesses and more had little to no water. Tim Laxton, the owner of local breakfast shop “Early Bird Biscuits Company," had to shut down his restaurant for a week after having no running water. He told 8News he lost over $10,000 in revenue during that time. “The bills kept coming in and, without revenue, it was very difficult to pay those bills,” Laxton said. “We have a strong coffee service, so without water, we couldn’t brew coffee. We obviously must have sanitized dishes and we need to [have] clean hands to prepare the food.” ALL COVERAGE: Richmond Area Water Crisis Laxton said it was difficult calling his nine employees to tell them not to come to work, as he knows they rely on the business to make ends meet. He said he hopes the city will be more transparent when it comes to matters like the water crisis. “We all make mistakes, and all that I would ever ask as a human is that you would just be transparent -- if you see a failure, then be honest about it,” Laxton said. To help his staff, Laxton is selling “Early Bird Biscuit” t-shirts, with 100% of the proceeds going toward his employees. In a similar situation, “Ruby Scoops Ice Cream & Sweets” owner Rabia Kamara said she and her staff were ready to come back to work after a winter break. Unfortunately, the water crisis caused them to be away from her shop even longer -- and the consequences were drastic. “We walked in and our two main freezers had tripped electricity over the snowstorm weekend, so we lost about 85 to 90 gallons of ice cream,” Kamara said. Kamara said her shop relies on running water for washing dishes and cleaning utensils. It's also needed to run the water heater in their kitchen. VDH says Richmond is not capable of reliably providing citizens with water She said she understands the city is doing everything it can to rectify the issues, but added that going the extra mile to support those that lift the city up would be appreciated. "It would be lovely if we could have some sort of financial compensation or grants or assistance with the lost wages,” Kamara said. “Being able to keep our staff employed, having to pay for our water bills [even though] we didn't have water ... but if we could work through that, that'd be helpful.” Kamara will also be giving away gift cards to Richmond Community Fridges for residents with food insecurities.