Frankenmuth, one of Michigan's most popular tourist destinations, attracts as many as 3 million visitors a year.

Today, the quaint streets of the Little Bavaria-themed town are eerily quiet as more than 50 businesses shuttered their doors during the coronavirus pandemic.

Saginaw County, home of Frankenmuth, has nine confirmed COVID-19 cases and declared a state of emergency March 25 in an effort to combat the spread of the virus, according to a report from MLive.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order March 23 pushed businesses statewide to close their doors — including those in the tourist destination.

Businesses including the James Beard award-winning Zenhders of Frankenmuth offered to-go options before closing entirely. Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, renowned year-round Christmas shop that rarely closes, shut down until April 14. The Bavarian Inn Lodge and its restaurants canceled its annual events and postponed guest bookings.

"We are accustomed to having busy streets and bustling sidewalks. It is a huge shift and change for us and all of our businesses," said Jamie Furbush, Frankenmuth Chamber of Commerce CEO. "And I think that is what you are seeing all over the state of Michigan, I don't think we are alone and I think that helps sort of, 'We are all in this together.' We are not sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves by any means."

Frankenmuth Woolen Mill has been a cornerstone of the Little Bavarian town for 126 years.

And it is going to be around for at least 126 more, said co-owner Matt Curtis.

The Woolen Mill had been in operation for both retail and production until the order went into effect.

Although he had to lay off the majority of his employees, Curtis said they made the most of their last days working. Curtis and his team, including his wife, Abby, and their kids, spent them putting together bags of fabric for people to pick up and make masks for local medical workers.

"It was a good way to end, I guess," he said. "Nothing is permanent, we told everybody their jobs are going to be waiting for them and we think we are going to be able to ramp right up as soon as we are able to get our workers back."

Each bag contained material to make 30-35 masks. After a few days, more than 600 bags were handed out, totaling a possible 18,000 masks that could be made.

"People were very thankful, which we did the easy part, we handed out the fabric, they are going home and actually doing the work," Curtis said. "There were even people in tears saying how grateful they were to us providing this and they can do something to help somebody they know, or somebody working in the local community."

The Frankenmuth Woolen Mill has built up its online site over the past few years, giving the local business enough stock and continue business through online sales.

A number of Frankenmuth restaurants worked to stay open for takeout orders, but the list of places offering carry-out has been shrinking, Furbush said.

On the list of businesses shutting down takeout after closing their dining room doors is Zehnders of Frankenmuth. After closing in compliance with the March 13 order for all restaurants to close, Zehnders joined a long list of Michigan restaurants offering to-go options.

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But Zehnder's CEO Al Zehnder closed operations this week in an effort to best protect the health and safety of both customers and his employees.

With the shutdown, Zehnder said he had to lay off nearly 900 employees with full hope to rehire them all once the pandemic passes. He made the decision to go completely close with hopes to make it pass that much quicker.

"If we are going through hell, let's go through hell fast and get this over with," Zehnder said.

The Bavarian Inn Lodge made a similar decision. Owner Judy Zehnder closed down all of the properties, including the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn restaurant and all Frankenmuth Riverplace shops. With the closures came layoffs and cancelations for both restaurant and overnight visits.

Despite the cancelations in the meantime, Judy said she and her guests are viewing it less as a cancelation and more as a postponement.

"Everyone who canceled that had groups with us, we are working with them, when this is over, to rebook," she said. "When they canceled they said, 'Let's get together, let's talk to each other when this is over' because nobody knows when this is over."

Given the longstanding traditions and businesses within the community, Al Zehnder knows his businesses will make it out on the other side.

"It is a tough period of time, but this business has survived the Great Depression, prohibition, World War II, the Vietnam War, 2008 the financial crisis," Al Zehnder said. "We are going to get through this, we are going to survive this as well."

Like others across the state, many local Frankenmuth businesses are offering gift cards for customers to help support business. A list of businesses that are open and which are offering take-out options are listed on the Frankenmuth website.

In the meantime, all of the business owners had one request — when this is over, come visit.

"When it is safe, just being up on day trips is going to be a huge boost," Curtis said. "Coming up for ice cream, going for a drive, walking through the local shops is really going to be key when this thing lets up. Frankenmuth is a great day trip destination. ... I would say the majority of our visitors are here for the day. And we will take that."

Meredith Spelbring is a news intern with the Detroit Free Press. Reach her at mspelbring@freepress.com or on Twitter @mere0415.