After shuttering the doors of his Mountlake Terrace 7-Eleven store earlier this month, owner Bobby Padda will reopen the store at 6 a.m. on Monday, April 13.

Padda, who has owned the convenience store located at 21202-52nd Ave. W. since mid-2014, closed the location on April 2 “due to several reasons related to COVID-19.”

Padda cited staffing issues, a loss of sales and a desire to help slow the spread of the coronavirus as reasons for the store’s temporary closure.

Recent cuts to local bus service prevented employees from being able to arrive for their regular shifts, Padda explained. “(A) shortage of staff was one of the main reasons we had to close temporarily,” he said.

Padda has since hired some additional workers to help meet the store’s staffing needs.

Also, as government directives for the public to stay at home took root, fewer customers were coming through the store, Padda said, resulting in a 20% loss in sales. The 7-Eleven corporate office in Dallas has provided some financial help for Padda to weather the store’s temporary closure.

The company is also assisting with revamping store practices in direct response to COVID-19 concerns. “We are cleaning our stores thoroughly, practicing social distancing by allowing no more than five people in the store at one time and wiping down counters, door handles, pin pads, providing gloves and sanitizer for customers as they enter and making sure they are safe, along with our employees” Padda said.

Padda stressed that no one associated with the Mountlake Terrace store was sick before the store’s temporary closure. “No one in our stores were directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19,” he said.

After the two-week closure, Padda is excited to get the store open again. “We are here for our community and our top priority will always be the safety of our employees and our customers,” he said.

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski