Many Boston Businesses Still Afraid To Take Plywood Down A Week After Election
BOSTON (CBS) - Much of Boston still has that ominous look of uncertainty. While some businesses have finally taken the plywood off their windows, many on Newbury Street, and in Downtown Crossing are still afraid to take it down a full week since the presidential election.
"I think they may just stay boarded up until there is an extremely definitive answer," said Emily Chan, as she walked by Zara. "But that might take a while, I don't know. I hope it's decided soon so then we can move on."
"I think it's easier to leave them up, than take them down and then put them back up," said another shopper.
"I feel bad that they're spending the money they need to spend in order to do this," said Lou Falzarano, who owns Boston Board Up. He says he removed some wood from stores this week, but they've asked him to keep the wood on-hand in case they need to quickly put it back up. He says plywood prices have shot up three-fold due to demand during the pandemic.
Even though his business has been brisk, he says he'd rather work on other projects. "I don't really feel it's good for our business," he said. "This isn't really what we want to be doing."
Business owners say the look of the boarded up windows is driving customers away at a time when they're needed most.
