No contingency plan prepared George Skandalos for the dire circumstances facing the two Moscow restaurants and bar he co-owns.

Business has plummeted by 60 percent as Sangria Grille and Maialina Pizzeria Napoletana went to takeout and delivery orders, and the Garden Lounge closed ahead of a city of Moscow order to stifle the spread of the coronavirus.

Skandalos understood the need for the dramatic action. He was among more than 150 owners of businesses in the hospitality industry who pushed Idaho’s Gov. Brad Little for a statewide curtailment of dining in at restaurants roughly a week before he imposed Idaho’s stay-home order Wednesday.

Skandalos and his business partner, Carly Lilly, have tried to soften the blow for employees. They kept 20 employees on staff and are allowing the other 80 to use sick leave and vacation time.

Many employers — especially those in the hospitality industry, which took one of the biggest and earliest hits in the COVID-19 pandemic — are scrambling to do what they can for staff members even as they have been forced to close or cut jobs to adjust to a dramatic decrease in sales.

The reduction has happened in waves in southeastern Washington and north central Idaho. Washington state was the first to shutter bars and limit eateries to takeout, delivery and drive-through orders, on March 17. That was followed by the city of Moscow on March 21 and the state of Idaho and the city of Lewiston on Wednesday.

“Everybody is in a pickle,” Skandalos said. “This is through no fault of their own. Never in a million years would you think that something like this would happen.”

Happy Day Corp., which normally has 475 employees in Clarkston, Lewiston and Moscow, was down to a skeleton crew even before Idaho went to a stay-home order and its locations shifted to delivery, takeout and drive-through only, company President Bruce Finch said.

That was partly because the company was only seating every other table at its restaurants, such as Mystic Cafe and Main Street Grill in Lewiston.

The company has made adjustments to accommodate employees, such as not disciplining staff members who couldn’t arrange for child care when Washington and Idaho schools closed.

Employees who don’t need as many hours to meet expenses are being permitted to give shifts to co-workers who are financially strapped. The contributions employees make are important, Finch said.

“It takes a long time to train a good employee,” he said. “We value their knowledge.”

How much the pandemic hurts economically depends on how long it lasts, Skandalos said.

He can last about two months operating at a loss in a scaled-back mode. And that’s only because his businesses are supported by money saved to remodel the former U.S. Bank building in downtown Moscow into a new location for Sangria, which is at the Palouse Mall.

He (Skandalos) and others in the hospitality industry worry that their customer bases will erode further in upcoming weeks as people realize how easy it is to make their own versions of restaurant favorites, especially when they are looking for ways to pass extra hours at home.

Programs that would allow business owners to defer mortgage or utility payments would help entrepreneurs weather the crisis, he said.

“I’m not trying to get rich,” he said. “I’m just trying to get through this thing.”

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.