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Business Owners Hoping Baltimore Will Bounce Back

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Less than 48 hours after the curfew is lifted, businesses are trying to bounce back. But many have lost thousands of dollars over the past few days.

Meghan McCorkell has more on how businesses are recovering.

It's not just the businesses themselves, but the people that work at them that are feeling the pinch.

From Canton to Mount Washington and Mount Vernon--for days, the curfew forced bars and restaurants to close by 10 p.m.

At Mick O'Sheas Pub, the early hours impacted everyone--from kitchen staff to servers and bartenders. Now they need customers to come back.

"I'm just kind of hoping that people get back to a sense of normalcy, you know, and we're not going to start doing better until they start feeling better," said Dave Niehenke, Mick O'Sheas.

At the Lord Baltimore Hotel, many guests opted to leave early.

"The curfew certainly had an impact on hotel guests. They were sort of afraid to go out. A lot of people checked out early," said Gene-Michele Addis, Lord Baltimore Hotel.

Two major conferences scheduled to take place in downtown Baltimore were canceled.

And with one fanless game and three others moved to Tampa, the Orioles also lost out.

"We have no idea how long it will take to recover," said Kirby Fowler with the Downtown Partnership.

Fowler says city residents can help by supporting local businesses.

"We need to make sure they come back and embrace our restaurants. We need to get them in first. And when they come back, they'll tell their friends around the country about what happened," said Fowler.

But, back at Mick O'Sheas, there are fears about the long term impact.

"I don't even want to think what the summer is going to be like with tourism and all that," said Niehenke.

Business owners are hoping Baltimore will bounce back.

Many of those business owners now have their sights set on Preakness weekend to try and make up some of those losses.

The Downtown Partnership is asking city residents to post their visits to local businesses on social media using the hashtag #OneBaltimore.

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