Conn. coffeehouses grapple with coronavirus disruption
The days of patrons spending hours at a time at their favorite coffee shops are off the menu for now in Connecticut. But those businesses have not stopped serving their customers.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked state restrictions that ban sit-down dining until further notice, independent coffee shops are adapting to the upheaval with services such as curbside pickup and an increased reliance on digital platforms. The changes have not been easy — with total shutdowns, reduced hours and layoffs increasingly common — but these businesses’ owners said that customer loyalty is helping them to survive.
“The challenges have been significant as we have had to completely re-invent the way we do business in a very short time frame,” said Courtney Hartl, owner of Source Coffeehouse at 2889 Fairfield Ave., in Bridgeport’s Black Rock section. “It’s definitely scary not knowing
what is ahead of us or how long it will last, but we’re figuring things out day by day.”
No more sit-down business for now
Source wound down sitdown dining on March 16, the start date for an executive order from Gov. Ned Lamont that prohibited eat-in business until further notice. The next day, it moved to reduced “pandemic hours” of 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Now, Source’s customers principally order through the app Cloosiv — allowing them to pay ahead of time and pick up their items at a table in front of the shop. There is no direct contact with the baristas.
Those who do not want to use the app can call in orders and pay on arrival.
“We’re trying to encourage credit card and contact-less payment as much as possible to minimize cash handling, which requires a fresh set of gloves for each transaction,” Hartl said. “We do take walkup orders at the curb as well, but we are asking customers to order ahead as much as possible. The main objective is to minimize the amount of time folks are milling around out front.”
Source has also rolled out an online store whose services include care-package deliveries.
For Winfield Street Coffee, the virus’ spread prompted it to close last week its shops in Stamford, Westport and Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.
In the previous week, it had seen revenues fall 50 percent across those locations. It reeled from the demise of business from employees of big companies like Stamford-based Indeed who had been told to not report to their offices for the time being. The Stamford Winfield operates a few blocks from Indeed, in a space adjacent to The Ferguson Library, at 96 Broad St.
“We did all we could and the same thing that many other businesses are doing: reduce hours, offer pickup and delivery only, detailclean the store and reduce menu offerings,” said Winfield owner Breno Donatti. “But the demand has dropped sharply, and these added actions increase costs for us — making it impossible to keep running the business. When you add that to the risk that would be imposed to our staff by having to take public transportation and be in contact with customers, we decided we needed to close.”
Yards from the Stamford Winfield, Lorca had reopened on March 11 its renovated and expanded coffee house at 125 Bedford St.
The new space initially attracted many regulars and newcomers — but even by then the virus had already established a foothold in the state.
This week, Lorca closed the cafe until further notice. Last week saw the short-term closing of the other Lorca, at 160 E. Putnam Ave., in Greenwich’s Cos Cob section.
“It breaks my heart do this, but for the safety of our community, our baristas and our families, we’ll be closing Lorca Stamford ... indefinitely,” Lorca owner Leyla Dam wrote in an Instagram post.
But it has not totally shut down. In an Instagram post Friday, it announced that it was still selling bags of coffee at the Stamford shop.
Humbled Coffeehouse, at 575 Hope St., in Stamford, also announced last week that it was taking a hiatus.
“This too shall pass,” it said in an Instagram post, adding the hashtags #seeyallsoon and #cantwaitobesocialagain.
A couple of miles west, Turning Point Coffee Roasters at 55 High Ridge Road at has kept its doors open.
Alternative offerings such as wine have helped to offset the lack of sit-down business.
“We’ve got wine for takeout,” Turning Point announced in an Instagram post showing a counter full of bottles. “Grab a bag of beans and a bottle to cover all your beverage needs! Lots of organic, biodynamic and even no-sulphate-added wines!”
Customer support
The closings have entailed layoffs and shortened hours for workers — at least until the coffee shops re-open.
Winfield furloughed 26 employees, accounting for all but one staff member. Lorca reluctantly cut positions for the time being.
“Our crew here puts a smile on my face every time I walk in the door and have done the same daily for all of our wonderful customers,” Dam said in an Instagram post about the closing of the Cos Cob shop. “To put them out of work makes me sadder than I can express.”
Coffee shops have advised their displaced workers to apply for unemployment insurance, but they are also trying to help staff make ends meet with initiatives like “tip jars” on their websites to which customers can contribute. Many are also selling gift cards to help maintain a baseline of revenues.
Customers are already stepping up.
Downtown Stamford resident Makhina Solieva, a Lorca regular, said that she wants to help the business survive by buying gift cards and coffee bags.
“I think it’s time for us to support them in such a serious situation,” Solieva said Friday, after buying a few more bags. “As a true coffee lover and a part of this community, I am also trying to help them with purchasing my beloved items from this coffee shop. And they also have online gift cards that I’m going to purchase further.
Source has not had to make layoffs. But like others, it has set up a virtual tip jar to help staff who have lost some of their hours.
“I would like to hope we are helping (customers) as much as they are truly carrying us through this terrifying time to be a small business,” Hartl said. “I think we’re all feeling a little lost and overwhelmed right now, but I have been continually inspired by the ways people are taking care of one another. To be on the receiving end of that is profoundly humbling and challenges us to keep showing up and doing the work each day.”