REDDING, Calif. - Governor Newsom’s stay-at-home order says that only “essential” businesses should be open, but one local business in Redding is defying that order, opening their doors early.

The owner of Rice Brothers Jiu Jitsu, Tanner Rice, tells Action News Now he had no other option but to open their doors, so that they could pay their bills.

Rice says the business loans that he applied to and the stimulus check that he received weren’t enough to allow him to keep his doors closed.

He made the announcement that he was going to open Monday via social media and since then he tells Action News Now, he’s been getting a lot of support from the community, but also has received some backlash.

He says his landlord plans on raising their rent next month.

“We were kind of put in a situation where we kind of had to and it was either we lose everything, just kind of listening or lose everything kind of standing up for what we believe in.

Rice tells Action News Now they temporarily closed their doors back in March, citing the low number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases in the county as one of the reasons why he chose to reopen.

Since opening, Rice says he’s noticed that fewer people have come back. His youth class that typically received 40 to 50 kids is now down to around 10.

Rice brothers Jiu Jitsu says they’ve stepped up their cleaning and sanitizing procedures since opening.