How can we support local businesses while social distancing over coronavirus?
As more people practice social distancing across the country, small businesses will feel the impact.
Already, restaurants in Seattle have closed indefinitely due to dwindling business associated with the coronavirus outbreak. As one restaurant owner told The Seattle Times, “unfortunately in an already difficult climate in Seattle to operate a small business, the impacts of the decrease in business due to the coronavirus has forced us to close our doors for good. We are a small business, and we were unable to weather the storm from the coronavirus.”
Charlotte is especially supportive of local businesses, from restaurants to farmers markets to retail locations across the city. But with the increased caution around public spaces, how can we continue to support small, local businesses?
“Small businesses are already being hugely impacted by social distancing. I had four pop-up events scheduled over the next month, and they have all been cancelled,” said Britt Gooding, owner of CLT Boutique. “For me, this is basically like losing a month’s income, and who knows how long this will last. Not to mention I’m trying to plan a store opening amidst a storm of so many unknowns. I was supposed to fly to Dallas market in two weeks to purchase all of the inventory for my store, but that’s not happening now either.”
“As we all take necessary precautions, supporting our local communities can seem daunting without venturing out to the physical locations,” said Lauren Harbury, owner of Feminist Goods Co. “Over the course of the next few weeks, it is going to remain important to support these businesses that are dependent on support for survival.”
Here’s a few ways to continue supporting local:
(1) Order ahead to avoid waiting in line
Many of the local businesses in Charlotte are still open and need your support. While out running errands, consider ordering ahead if the option is available. It’ll save you time waiting in public spaces, and gives you the opportunity to show your support to your favorite businesses during a tough time.
Brittany Cohen, co-owner of Village Juice Company’s Charlotte location, said, “We offer a wide menu of healthy whole foods to boost and strengthen your immune system from organic cold pressed juices and immunity shots to bone broth bowls, salads and grain bowls. Our breakfast menu is also available all day.
“Our customers can order anything on our menu online, and it will be ready in 30 minutes or less or it can be scheduled up to a week ahead. They love being able to order ahead and avoid the line, especially now,” Cohen said.
You can order your Village Juice Company favorites via the ToastTakeOut app. “And, if [customers] prefer not to come into the Hall, they can also order on Postmates,” Cohen added. “We have been pressing and prepping like crazy to be ready to help nourish and strengthen immune systems all over Charlotte.”
Tim Griffin, founder of Cloosiv, said, “Undercurrent Coffee, along with 40+ independent coffee shops in Charlotte, accept Cloosiv for order ahead and pickup.
He shared that Cloosiv, which is a small business itself, it supporting other small businesses by “lowering all of our fees and donating 10% of revenue to DirectRelief in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
(2) Focus on purchasing local produce
Local farmers will also inevitably feel the impact of the virus and the panic that’s ensued.
“If you’re heading to a market, fill the freezer with local proteins or stock up on the root vegetables that are plentiful this time of year and will keep a while. Farmers will be hit by the decreased restaurant business, as well,” said Chris Coleman, executive chef at The Goodyear House.
He also believes it’s important to show support to restaurants during this difficult time.
“I think researching locally owned places that offer gift cards and/or delivery/takeout is a great idea during this or any other crisis. Restaurants in particular are usually week-to-week businesses, and even a week or two of down business levels can cripple the best operators.”
(3) Buy now to enjoy later
Much like produce, you can also get carry-out meals to enjoy in the comfort of your home, whether you eat it while it’s still hot or freeze it for later.
“For LuLu’s, many of our customers choose to carry out meals, which is ideal for those who want to enjoy the dishes they crave with less risk,” said Miketa Proctor, co-owner of Lulu’s Maryland Style Chicken and Seafood. “It’s also a great time to patronize neighborhood restaurants and establishments as there may be less foot traffic than larger restaurants and stores. Most food items can also be frozen to enjoy later, which should be a consideration as many are stockpiling food and other items,” said Jay Davis, co-owner of Lulu’s Maryland Style Chicken and Seafood.
(4) Stock up on entertainment or download it to your devices
Yes, you can use social distancing as an excuse to binge-watch TV on your favorite streaming service, but there’s other ways to stay entertained outside of public spaces.
“Times where we have to stay at home are great times to stock up on books and puzzles,” said Meghan Anderson, events coordinator at Park Road Books. “If you don’t want to come in, Park Road Books is happy to ship to you. In fact, we will do free media mail shipping for any orders $30 or over.”
She also recommends downloading content directly to your device using Park Road Books as your bookstore on the app.
“If audio is your thing, we suggest you download the libro.fm app and select Park Road Books as your bookstore — essentially it’s the indie-bookstore answer to Audible, and a portion of each audiobook purchased will go to our store.”
“Please consider that when the community suffers or needs help, local businesses always show up and step up. Please consider helping them and supporting them in a time where business may be sparse,” she added.
(5) Consider delivery
You can still enjoy your favorite dishes and desserts from local restaurants that remain open.
“Charlotteans can support by ordering online via our website or Grubhub or Postmates,” said Frankie White, owner of BW Sweets Bakery. “We are taking every precaution at the store level including the addition of color-coded gloves, additional sanitizing buckets, sanitizing sprays as well as employee training. We have also dedicated a team in store specifically for this pandemic.”
This option is available at many local restaurants, and Luther encouraged it as well.
“We do have DoorDash and ChowNow available to our guests through their websites, or they can order directly from www.jjsredhots.com,” he said.
(7) Buy a gift card for later use
Purchasing a gift card to use at another time helps local businesses, as well.
“Our local shops need your love more than ever in this seemingly uncertain time,” said Trang Tran, owner of Mimosas Nail Bar. “I wanted to take a minute to remind you that our beautiful neighborhood businesses of the Mill District are open for business. Our small businesses depend on the support of people like you coming out.
“If you don’t want to venture out — please purchase gift certificates to help sustain us and then treat yourself for a special day later. Our small business supports our family and our beautiful technicians support their families with your amazing patronage.”
(8) Shop online
Of course, you can always order from your favorite local retailers online.
“We are encouraging customers to shop online, share posts from their favorite companies, and stay in touch and to give grace to small businesses as we navigate this season,” said Sarah Baucom, co-owner of Girl Tribe Co. “We are actually working on a live online shopping event with our vendors to take place on March 28 since we postponed our Charlotte Girl Tribe Pop Up to June 13.”
Baucom will share more information on the event in the upcoming days.
Harbury and Gooding encourage online shopping, as well.
“Order online, order take out or pick up, but don’t spend unnecessary time in group settings,” Harbury said. “If you aren’t comfortable receiving packages, gift card orders are a great option for future use.”
“I will be focusing heavily on Instagram and web sales while people are in isolation,” Gooding said. “To encourage online shopping I am going to be offering free shipping to all of my customers for the foreseeable future. There are so many ways to support local retail businesses who are struggling right now — purchase gift cards to use later, think ahead about the gifts you’ll need to purchase in the coming months and buy them now (birthdays, baby showers, etc), or use this as an excuse to ‘treat yo’self.’”
Update: On Sunday, March 15, Girl Tribe Co. made the decision to close its store during this time as a precaution against coronavirus. “This is incredibly painful, we please ask that you keep us in business by shopping online (free shipping) and stay tuned for other creative ways to support (live events, live sales, etc). Please keep us in business,” stated a message on Girl Tribe’s Instagram page.
(9) Send a nice note
And lastly, spread kindness and optimism. It’s needed more than ever now.
“I would also say dropping your local businesses a DM to send them some love is also appreciated — we are all in this together.” Harbury said.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 5:04 PM.
