Here’s how Topgolf and other businesses are changing and adapting during COVID
Uptown at the Charlotte City Club, the club members will be riding alone on the elevator up to the 31st floor.
At Topgolf, customers will golf at bays partitioned off by plastic dividers, and can still order drinks but not at the bar.
And the Hood Hargett Breakfast Club has moved to hosting virtual events.
These three groups highlight some of the ways that businesses and other organizations are trying to adapt and survive as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc, and the state has restrictions in place for how to operate.
New safety procedures
Topgolf Charlotte, the popular indoor-outdoor entertainment complex where customers hit golf balls at targets on an outfield, reopened its Savoy Corporate Drive site on Aug. 3 after being closed since March. Like other facilities, it has to operate at 50% capacity for now.
“The decision to reopen was solely based on us keeping the guests and our associates safe,” Director of Operations Clayton Stanley said.
He cited a number of safety procedures in response to COVID-19. Stanley said Topgolf surveyed people in the Charlotte area, asking their feelings towards safety and reopening, and the results were implemented into the reopening process.
All customers are required to enter Topgolf with masks, although they are allowed to take them off once they go outside to the golf bays, Stanley said.
Only up to six customers are allowed at each bay to allow for social distancing, and there are now plastic dividers between each bay. All golf clubs and golf balls are sanitized after each use, he said.
All employees must wear masks, and hand sanitizer stations are located across the venue.
In addition, Stanley said there is no walk-up service at the bar. Customers who want to order a drink must do so from a bay or common area.
New technology
The Charlotte City Club, a private, 74-year-old club, reopened for dinner July 1 on the 31st floor of its building at 121 W. Trade St.
One of the new safety measures it has taken is installing a system that cleans indoor air, said the club’s manager John Scharer.
The technology, called needlepoint bipolar ionization, disables and kills pathogens and has been proven to be effective in killing COVID-19, Scharer said. He said the club installed the technology in late June, and it’s been running almost nonstop since then.
Scharer said the club also has taken several other measures to ensure the safety of guests.
The club is spacing table reservations out by 15 minutes so that guests are alone when they come up to the club in the elevator.
Once people enter the club, their temperature is scanned and they are required to wear face coverings as they enter the dining room, Scharer said.
In the dining room, tables are spaced nine feet apart. There are touch-free hand sanitizing stations on each table. Menus are available digitally through a QR code, and disposable physical menus are also offered.
Staffers are required to wear face coverings and gloves, and their temperatures are scanned when they come in to work.
“I want to create the safest possible environment for our members, guests and staff,” Scharer said.
Going virtual
Hood Hargett Breakfast Club is a business development and networking group in Charlotte that hosts in-person events with speakers.
When COVID-19 started, the organization had to completely change the way it held events, said Executive Director Jenn Snyder Gibson.
That meant Hood Hargett transitioned to online events throughout the pandemic, Gibson said.
So on July 30, Hood Hargett held a virtual lunch event with guest speaker Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio as part of its monthly lunch series which usually takes place at The Palm restaurant.
Instead, Hood Hargett partnered with The Palm and Rose Chaffeured Transportation to deliver lunches to its members.
“Everyone’s having to find their unique ways to continue to do what they do,” Gibson said.
She said Hood Hargett also has offered free webinars, workshops and events during the pandemic — and, the organization’s membership has grown 25%.
But uncertainty about the future remains. Gibson said while she usually might be planning events over a year in advance, now she could be planning just a few days or hours ahead.
“Being really flexible and adaptive are just the most important things that we can do right now,” she said.
Gibson said Hood Hargett is planning another virtual lunch event for Aug. 20, but this time, it will be a comedy show. While Hood Hargett’s events are usually focused on topics that are relevant in the business world, Gibson said she thought a shift was needed due to the current state of the world.
“I just felt like we needed to make people laugh,” she said.
