FITCHBURG — Local businesses in every sector of the economy were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the health restrictions that came with it.
On Thursday, as establishments across the city reopened, small business owners detailed their journey through the crisis and explained how they adapted to the new way of life.
Strong Style Coffee owner Kim Jones said the last few months have been a challenge, but admitted there is a silver lining.
“It’s been one of the more challenging things I’ve had to do,” Jones said. “But everything is what you make of it.”
In the early days of the pandemic, when restrictions on businesses went into effect, Jones said she was worried about her family, staff, and the community.
The abrupt change saw the business move toward take-out meals and drinks, as well as a small market that offered coffee, shirts and gift cards.
Not long after, Jones partnered with the local nonprofit organization Growing Places and pivoted her business to offer fresh produce and other essential foods.
“People needed food,” she said. “They were having a hard time getting it and food systems in general were failing the community.”
Eventually, the worst of the pandemic appeared to be over and the state began relaxing its restrictions.
With that, Strong Style began offering outdoor seating to its customers; and Jones said she came to a realization about the current situation.
“Coming back from COVID-19 is essentially reinventing your business again,” she said. “It worked out in a way that gave me a different perspective on things in terms of the needs of the city.”
Jones said she realized the amount of good that local businesses can do in difficult situations.
For example, she said, all of the baked goods now come from the Fitchburg-based Finicky Fork company. And while she no longer offers produce since a new market opened on Main Street, Jones emphasized the importance of being a community.
Jones also said the shop will not transition to indoor dining until the number of new COVID-19 cases per day is significantly lower.
“We’re moving slowly,” she said. “If we don’t survive because we didn’t do indoor dining then so be it. I can start a new business, I can’t replace a staff member or customer who gets sick.”
Joseph George, owner of Joey’s Barber Shop, said he was frustrated by the state-mandated restrictions at first.
“Of course it’s not what you want to hear,” George said. “It was aggravating at first but now that you look back at the number of cases we have, you know that (the state) is doing a great job.”
George closed the barbershop on March 7, saying that residents stopped showing up as news of the virus spread.
“The wheels fell off, and people just stopped coming in,” he said. “When the virus started to pick up, we decided to just close it and I went home.”
It was roughly 10 weeks until George was able to reopen his shop, but he says unemployment checks allowed him to stay afloat at the time.
George said he was also able to find additional funding from the Small Business Association and a small business grant from the city.
“It was a nice 10 weeks off,” he said with a chuckle.
Since reopening on May 26, George said he’s been following state guidelines and doing what he can to keep people healthy.
The barbershop is limited in that it can’t do shaving or beard trimming, and only one customer is allowed in the building at a time. Both restrictions have had their impact financially, he said.
George also purchased new cleaning supplies, gloves, and capes, a sizable cost for any business, he said.
While things around the city inch toward the new normal, George said customers are still nervous to come to the barbershop. He understands that, he said, and looking forward to residents coming in whenever they’re ready.
Todd Anderson, owner of the hobby shop, RC Excitement Inc., said nearly four months of closed doors was hard.
“We can’t do the same things you could do,” Anderson said. “It kind of cuts you off (…) but we were fortunate that a lot of people were still supporting the place.”
Anderson, determined to help some residents, said the shop continued with phone-in orders and curbside pick-up.
Several businesses were forced to layoff staff at the beginning of the pandemic, but RC Excitement kept paying its staff throughout the crisis.
“We didn’t want to (lay off staff),” he said. “We had some money saved up so we were willing to just keep paying them.”
But now that people are itching for something to do, the business is seeing a lot of success.
“People have limited things to do, so they’re playing with toy cars,” Anderson said.
Though the mandated closure was a burden on the business, Anderson said the state has been handling everything well.
“It hurts, but Gov. Baker was definitely wise,” he said. “When you look at other states like Florida, Arizona, or Texas that are seeing a surge, it was the right move.”
Now, Anderson limits the number of people in the shop to eight, cleans the place relentlessly and mandates masks. He even offers masks to customers who don’t have one, he said.
“My employees’ health is first,” he said. “I don’t want anyone getting sick at all.”
Anderson said he expects to have to run his business like this for the next few months, adding that it’s the smart thing to do until the country has COVID-19 under control.
Another business that spent over two years preparing to open its doors, was forced to close just five days after its grand opening on March 21.
Local Roots, the city’s first recreational marijuana shop, had been hoping for a massive opening at the former Godrey’s Grille & Pizzeria at 371 Lunenburg St.
Dean Iandoli, co-owner of the pot shop, said it was crushing to have to close only days after opening.
“We were disappointed,” Iandoli said. “But then we had to lay off 18 people during a time when nobody knew what was going on.”
When the shop was allowed to reopen, it was strictly curbside pickup.
Iandoli said the business had to design an entirely new business plan to accommodate curbside pickup and the many health guidelines.
“It worked pretty well and I’m proud of the staff,” he said.
A few weeks later, Local Roots was able to reopen its retail floor. Iandoli said it was interesting that customers gravitated toward the face-to-face interactions of the curbside pickup.
“I think they still like that personal interaction,” he said. “We’ve had to adapt, but I think we’ve still been successful.”
Iandoli said other than masks, hand sanitizer, and social distancing, everything appears to operate normally. Many of the employees laid off at the start have also been brought back, he said.
The experience over the last few months, he said, has been surreal.
“In a weird way, the shutdown was almost a good thing,” Iandoli said. “Over those five days we were operating, we were able to look at what worked and what could we get better at.”
Iandoli said the pandemic might have temporarily stopped the businesses, but he’s seeing nothing but success now.
