ST. MARY PARISH, La. (KLFY) St. Mary Parish officials are allowing “gray area” businesses to re-open this week, and some business owners say they are ready.

“We worked so hard to get Franklin downtown back going, so to see it just stop and stand still in time has just been surreal. So we’re ready to get going again and get our people back and see what the world has to offer for us,” Kathy Latiolais said.

Latiolais is owner of The French Door in Franklin.

They sell everything from cosmetics to baby products, but not being an “essential business,” Latiolais made the decision to shut their doors last month.

“We actually closed March 19, when the governor started suggesting everybody to stay at home. That’s when we made the decision to close temporarily,” she said.

It was a tough decision but one she says was necessary to protect the people in her city.

“It’s been kind of eerie, knowing we have a business, but we haven’t been able to see our customers. We miss our customers. We miss being together. We’re like a family in our business, and we miss that so we’re excited,” she added.

After over a month of driving past her empty store, Latiolais says she’s excited to finally re-open this week, and she’ll do everything in her power as a small-business owner to make sure her customers and employers stay safe.

“We’re gonna have posts on our doors. We’re gonna have handouts, and we’re gonna tell them. That’s what we have to do to stay safe and to be able to stay open because we don’t want to have to go through all this again,” she told News Ten.