Businesses cope during COVID

#Middlebury #COVID19

Robin Manna, owner of Precision Cuts of Middlebury, is shown between customers in her business in Village Square Plaza in Middlebury. Manna will have a ribbon cutting Sunday, November 1, at noon. (Marjorie Needham photo

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Business owners Robin Manna of Precision Cuts of Middlebury, Dawn Zarrella of Westside Cleaners, Anthony Calabrese of Vaszauskas Farm, Joe Dinova of Dinova’s Four Corners Market and Theo Anastasiadas of Pies and Pub all have seen their businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their experiences with it have been as varied as their businesses.

Manna was among those the state shut down completely. Her business was forced to close down March 20, and she wasn’t allowed to reopen until June 1. Manna had opened the business in November 2019 and planned a ribbon cutting for April 2020. That got postponed when COVID hit, so now she is having a combination one-year anniversary and ribbon cutting Sunday, November 1, at noon. Precision Cuts is in Village Mall Plaza, Suite 102B, at 530 Middlebury Road, a space formerly occupied by a bridal boutique.

Manna isn’t one to give up. When she reopened, the pre-COVID business she got from foot traffic in the plaza was gone. That’s because the businesses in the mall that generated foot traffic had moved online.

“I had to change my business model,” she said. She’s a barber, and most of her clients were male. She brought in a stylist who focuses on women’s hair, and now she is looking at bringing in a colorist and a hair product line.

She said business is still down from where it was before COVID. People didn’t need haircuts for proms or weddings and people aren’t traveling as much these days, so they don’t need a trim before they leave on a business trip. Since many are working from home, they aren’t getting their hair cut as often. And health regulations prevent her from doing anything with beards or goatees.

Despite all the challenges the pandemic has presented, Manna is moving forward. Her ribbon cutting and one-year anniversary celebration November 1 may give hope to other business owners at this difficult time.

Dawn Zarrella, whose Westside Cleaners also is in Village Square Mall, stayed open the entire time. There were no forced closings for her dry cleaning business, but she has seen some major changes. Teachers and lawyers who were constantly dropping off dry cleaning don’t come in any more – and many of them haven’t come back to pick up the cleaning they dropped off at the end of February, beginning of March.

COVID changed her business in several ways. There was no longer a need for an early opening so customers could drop off cleaning on their way to work. And fewer people needed work clothing cleaned. Fortunately, essential workers continued to bring in cleaning, including laundry, lab coats and uniforms.

When the Cheshire Health District needed people to sew Tyvek gowns for front-line workers, Zarrella set to work, putting together precut Tyvek gowns and sewing them up. She did that for free. “I can’t see profiting off a disaster,” she said.

The bulk of her business right now is comforters and curtains. People who are staying home are cleaning out their closets.

They also are bringing in old wedding gowns for restoration and preservation. The gowns come in yellowed with age and return white. One woman brought in her mother’s 65-year-old wedding gown. Another gown brought to her was 70 years old. One week, three wedding gowns more than 60 years old were brought in for restoration. This compensates a bit for the lost prom season and wedding season.

Across the street at Vaszauskas Farm, Anthony Calabrese said March and the first part of April were scary because he didn’t know how his business would do. Turns out, it has done very well.

“Everyone was home and wanted to make their homes look nice,” Calabrese said. “People have been buying flowers, vegetable plants and mulch.” It’s been so busy, Calabrese said, they keep running out of stuff.

He said his business was up 40% over last year. “Mum sales are through the roof,” he said. “Everything is doing well.”

The pandemic also has him using his greenhouse to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, squash and pickling cucumbers between now and the time Christmas poinsettias arrive. If all goes as planned, he will be able to continue offering fresh, locally grown vegetables to customers longer than usual.

Up the street, Joe Dinova at Dinova’s Four Corners Grocery Store, may have had a deja vu moment in recent months. His family’s grocery business started in 1941. He said in the 40s, 50s and 60s, the store delivered groceries to a ton of customers.

This year, along came COVID, and Dinova closed down the store to inside shopping for nine weeks. Instead, he offered curbside pickup and delivery. He laughed as he said, “Here I was training my staff in what I did as a kid.”

While the store was shut, changes were made to make it work better during the pandemic. Spacing was increased, and Plexiglas barriers were installed where needed.

The pandemic actually arrived at a good time for Dinova. He was about to remodel the store and install self-serve equipment for things like soup and salad. Pandemic guidelines now ban such equipment.

They also ban the bountiful display of pastries the store used to set out on tables Sunday morning. Customers could come in and bag up bagels and other pastries. “You can’t let people serve themselves,” Dinova said. They can’t even grind coffee beans for themselves; an employee has to do that.

Although the store is open again, Dinova said some customers still don’t want to come out. Because of that, curbside pickup and deliveries will continue. Customers order online at fourcornersgrocery.com.

Dinova said his business is doing OK, and it’s largely because Middlebury residents supported it. He’s grateful for that, and he also is really proud of his employees. Most have been with him for years, and he said they work together like a family to get things done.

“You have to adapt,” Dinova said. “We’ve been in business since 1941. When the game changes, you change with the game.”

Theo Anastasiadas’s current email tag line sums up his response to COVID-19: “Never give up. Adapt in any way you can. Be creative.” He has made major changes at Pies & Pub as he has adapted to the ever changing COVID landscape.

First, all indoor dining went away completely. The restaurant had to gear up to prepare meals for curbside pickup and delivery. They began delivering in Middlebury, something they had not done prior to COVID. Then they added DoorDash and GrubHub for deliveries outside of Middlebury.

Then indoor dining wasn’t allowed, but outdoor dining was, provided they followed COVID guidelines. They set up their patio with properly spaced tables and found a couple of other outside spaces where tables could be placed.

Up to 75% indoor dining is allowed as we go to press, but Anastasiadas said people seem reluctant to return to indoor dining despite the Plexiglas barriers he has had installed between booths. Because of this, outdoor dining will continue for as long as possible. The small dining room near the entrance remains closed so the staff has more room to work.

Business now is roughly 60% takeout. That is helped by the state relaxing alcoholic beverage laws so customers can order a growler, a bottle of wine or even a cocktail to go with their food. From early in the pandemic, Pies & Pub has offered a free bottle of wine with takeout orders of $70 or more.

Looking forward six months, Anastasiadas said he sees some things staying the same no matter what progress has been made fighting COVID. The Plexiglas dividers are permanent and will stay in place. Delivery and takeout also will continue.

One thing Anastasiadas really appreciates is the community’s support throughout this time. People bought gift cards and called to wish the business well. And they supported it by ordering meals. Everyone at the restaurant and in his family has been well. “Now we are hoping everyone stays healthy,” he said.