Discount retailer Gabe’s is remaining open during the coronavirus pandemic despite an order from Summit County Public Health to close after the agency determined the business was nonessential.

But the retailer says it sells essential goods at its Akron store and offers consumers another shopping option during the pandemic.

Summit County Public Health Environmental Health Director Tonia Burford said after an initial inspection April 7, public health employees have visited the store multiple times, including Monday.

"We have ordered them to close, and they are refusing," Burford said. "They feel they are essential, and we feel they are not."

The retailer formerly known as Gabriel Brothers, which is represented by law firm Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, argues it’s essential because it sells food and household items, including boxed shelf-stable food and dry goods, bottled beverages, first aid supplies, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, scrubs and baby and pet care items.

In a letter dated April 7 and addressed to county public health commissioners, the law firm said Gabe’s is a general merchandise retailer providing "essential and life sustaining grocery and non-grocery products necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation and essential operation of residences and other essential business operations in your community."

Gabe’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Leigh Guldig said as an off-price retailer, the company has changed its inventory to respond to the pandemic, and it’s shipping only essential products to stores twice a week.

Stores have rearranged their displays, with essential items located near the front, she said.

But Burford said the amount of essential supplies the store sells is "minimal," adding the food is "crackers and candy."

She said the health department is looking at "the bulk of someone's business to decide if they meet the intent of the order, and it's our opinion that they do not," adding the bulk of Gabe’s business is a clothing or general merchandise retailer.

If it were determined the retailer is essential, the store would also have to meet public health guidelines to operate safely during the pandemic.

According to the letter, Gabe’s is complying with social distancing guidelines, including limiting the number of customers in the store at one time, taping lines every six feet in the checkout queue, closing fitting rooms and eliminating taking returns, with an extended deadline to make a return until Aug. 1.

Disinfecting supplies, hand sanitizer and wipes are available for customers and employees to use, including at the front door and registers, the letter said.

All workers are volunteering for shifts, and the attendance policy has been suspended, the letter said. Cashiers are wiping down and disinfecting the register area after customers, and employees are encouraged to regularly wash and sanitize their hands, cough into a tissue or their sleeve and maintain at least a six-foot distance from everyone.

Guldig said the store has also implemented temperature checks and is limiting customers to ensure social distancing.

The retailer has hired overnight cleaning crews to disinfect all touch points throughout the store and all flooring, along with deep cleaning and sanitizing all restrooms and fitting rooms, the letter said.

Gabe’s also installed commercial-grade HEPA Air-Scrubbers in all stores, which according to the letter will remove 99.97% of particles 0.3 micrometers or larger and are effective in removing airborne pathogens like viruses, mold, dust and pollen.

The law firm notes it believes Gabe’s — which has 107 stores in multiple states, including 26 in Ohio — is "providing a much needed alternative to other general merchandising stores (such as Wal-Mart or Target) given its size, convenience and price points."

Guldig said the store is budget-friendly, which she said is important given "more and more people are experiencing financial hardship."

"We're certainly trying to follow everything we can do to keep our store associates as well as our customers as safe as possible," she said.

According to its website, the retailer has reduced shopping hours of 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., with the first hour reserved for vulnerable shoppers.

Burford said the next step will be for the health department to take legal action through Summit County Common Pleas Court, where a judge would make the final decision, unless the two entities can reach a resolution.

Another option would be the state’s new Dispute Resolution Commission, which will sort out which businesses can remain open and which ones should close if local health department officials disagree.

Burford said the health department has received more than 2,000 complaints about Summit County businesses in relation to the stay-at-home order.

"We're working our hardest to make sure we can get to those and to respond to the public in a timely manner," she said. "We really do try to look at each individual situation. There is no one size fits all for this stuff."

Burford said most businesses have been coming into compliance, adding the situation with Gabe’s is "a little bit of an outlier."

"They're allowed to disagree with us, so that's their right to disagree with us," Burford said.

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com.