I walked into a
doctor’s office recently for a routine appointment and felt like I had landed
on a different planet. My temperature was scanned before I even set foot
inside. I looked around to see all the doctors, secretaries, and patients wearing
masks that would have marked them as bandits just a few months ago. There was
nothing to read in the waiting room since all the magazines have been removed.
Even scheduling my appointment for next year was done on the phone from home so
that I wouldn’t have to stay in the office one minute more than necessary. Was
it weird? Yes. But I appreciated the thought and care that the practice had put
into creating a safe environment for me and all the patients.
Same with Levindale.
Wanting to visit a friend, I found out that they only accept visitors three
days a week, and an appointment has to be made in advance. When I arrived, a woman
took my temperature, and I was escorted to an outside courtyard, where my
friend was waiting. We talked through a plexiglass barrier, while wearing masks
and sitting much further than six feet apart. It seemed a bit extreme, but I
realized that being super careful is a conscientious attempt to avoid a repeat
of the tragic deaths in
Then there is
shopping. My granddaughter told me that when she went to the mall recently, all
the dressing rooms were locked. You are encouraged to take the clothing home to
try on and then return what you do not want. Welcome to the new world of retail!
I wondered what
our local businesses are doing to protect the community in the age of
* * *
Mosi Treuhaft of
the Knish Shop says that he spends hours counseling his catering service customers
about how many people to invite, whom to invite, and seating arrangements for
their upcoming simchas. “Some people
want to be more careful than others, and we follow their lead,” he says. “Our
philosophy is that the customer is the driver, and we are the engine. We do the
work, but the customer tells us where to go.”
Mosi explains the
various options. For example, the buffet served at the beginning of the wedding
can be modified. Instead of people serving themselves from a big bowl, the food
is prepared in individual portions. Instead of placing water pitchers on the
table, each guest gets an individual water bottle.
* * *
Rivky Goldberg of
Bas Melech Performing Arts was excited to tell me about the many accommodations
she has made to serve her clientele better. “I want everyone to be comfortable,”
Rivky says. She tells me that Bas Melech got a grant from the government to
help it open in a safe manner this summer so that the children could continue
to attend classes and have the exercise that they need.
As fall and winter
approach, Rivky says her students will have a choice to come into the building
or have their classes outside. “We are buying a huge tent so that the families
who are more comfortable that way can have classes in the tent,” says Rivky.
“The tent will feature giant fans in the summer time to spray mist and keep the
children comfortable and heating in the winter. The tent will also have flaps
that can be lowered when it is raining.” For those who choose to come into the
building, Rivky has installed HEPA air filters in all the rooms. To prevent the
virus from being spread, she bought more equipment so that the children do not
have to share. All the children will wear masks while walking around in the
building, but they can take them off when they are actually exercising. The staff
will wear masks all the time. There are sanitizing stations all over the
building to encourage participants to sanitize often. And of course, whether
inside or outside, the children will be kept six feet apart during classes.
With these
measures in place, Rivky is determined to continue to offer her wide variety of
classes to the hundreds of students who attend.
* * *
Mimi Ankri, of Mimi’s Boutique, says, “I’m doing everything that is allowed according to the law
and according to the rabbanim.” Masks
are mandatory in the store, and they recommend that everyone sanitize her hands
before coming in. “We encourage our customers to social distance as much as
possible and, obviously, try to keep surfaces clean. I really am trying to make
it as normal and comfortable as possible. I want to dress people again and make
them happy; that’s what we all enjoy doing here at The Mimi Boutique!
Mimi’s Boutique accommodates those who don’t
want to shop in-store or during regular hours or to try on clothing that others
have tried on. “Between my website, which offers local delivery, shipping, and curbside
pickup, home calls for special situations and occasional private
appointments, it has been pretty busy, thank G-d.”
Mimi is planning “an amazing, colorful” Yom
Tov season with extended hours and a cleaning crew that will come more often. “We
cannot wait to help dress you for Yom Tov!” says Mimi, adding, “I want to give
everyone a big thank you for continuing to support the Mimi Boutique! It made
me so happy to see all those who showed love and support during COVID. I couldn’t
have made it without you.”
* * *
Ronnie Rosenbluth
of Tov Pizza is very careful to follow the rules, which keep changing. Right
now, the city is allowing dine-in capacity of 25%. This rule has eliminated
many sheva brachos and other simchas that might have been celebrated
at Tov Pizza. “Business is doing reasonably well,” Ronnie says. “We have been
pushing delivery and carry-out services. We are offering incentives, like a
free snow ball for people who come in to pick up their order. Tov Pizza has also
marked the floor so customers can be sure they are standing six feet apart when
picking up their orders. To help his employees stay safe and avoid
contamination, he encourages them to remind each other to wash their hands
often. That has become second nature to the employees and helps create a
positive safe atmosphere.
* * *
Menashe Shabtai
from Yesh Hummus and Grill explained what his business is doing: “The rules
change every day, but we are very careful to follow all of them. Even the
health inspector who comes in every two weeks doesn’t know from day to day what
the rules will be. Right now, we are allowed to have dine-in at 50% capacity.
We usually have 14 tables, so now we only have seven. This week, our party room
is allowed to have 40 participants. All our employees wear masks and gloves,
and we offer curbside pick-up and delivery service through GrubHub, Uber Eats,
and Postmates.
* * *
Oriel Golfeyz of A-to-Z
Savings has made many changes. “We opened this store to help people,” he
explains. “I would not be able to sleep at night if I thought we had caused a
person to get sick.” Lately people have been coming into the store more often,
so they are doing fewer deliveries and curbside pick-up. A-to-Z gives out
gloves to all shoppers, and there is a sanitizing stand as people come into the
store. If a person forgot to bring a mask, they provide one. They have set up
the store in such a way that people are going in only one direction and can
stay far away from each other. They even set up the credit card machine so that
people can slide their own credit card and don’t have to hand the credit card
back and forth. They try to spray each cart after it is used. At A-to–Z, they
are really bending over backwards so that every customer can shop with
confidence and safety.
* * *
Yaakov Drebin of
Goldberg’s Bagels has seen his business slow down a lot because of the virus. “People
are still buying bagels, but they are not dining in as they did in pre-virus
days,” he says. The store usually bakes about a million bagels a year: about 3,000
bagels a day and 8,000 on Sundays. “To keep our business going, I have been
encouraging online sales,” says Mr. Drebin. “That is really the way to go in
this environment.” He has been able to recoup some of his losses by selling
bagels to the distributors of the food programs. Mr. Drebin has cut down on his
employees and made his hours shorter in order to make up for the shortfall
created by fewer people coming in to buy bagels and eat in the store. He is preparing
for the big bagel day of Erev Yom Kippur, anticipating the usual bagel-buying
crowd.
* * *
Jeffrey and Paula Weisberg of
Crown Remodeling have
been significantly affected by COVID-19: “When the virus started in the area
this March, our business came to a screeching halt,” says Paula. “Our phones
went silent. People would not let us in their home to do any interior work, and
many customers were not even interested in exterior work. They were extremely
worried about getting sick and lack of income. They had no interest in
remodeling their homes!”
Crown had over 20
contracted jobs that they were not able to complete, which impacted their cash
flow. “We lost close to 50 percent of our business obtained via door-to-door
sales, which was no longer possible,” says Paula. “We lost market share, but as
the months passed, we have adapted to the new state orders for social
distancing and have been able to be more productive and are gaining back some
market share.”
Jeffrey and Paula
have made many accommodations to service customers who do not want to meet
face-to-face. They use software that measures roofs, siding, etc., which
enables them to compile an estimate and email it to the customer. If the
customer approves the estimate, they submit all documents electronically for
them to review and sign. For picking colors for roofs/siding, they drop off
sample boards at customers’ doorstep. In addition, all employees wear masks and
practice social distancing to ensure the safety of their customers and
themselves.
As for the future,
Jeffrey and Paula say, “To be honest, we are uncertain. Fall was always a busy
season. This year, we are unable to predict any type of pattern from our
customer base. We are just doing our best to get through this tough time; we
pray every day!”
* * *
Lara Franks of Accents describes how difficult it was for
them at the beginning of the pandemic. “We lost 90 percent of our business that
week. We had to close all dine-in seating and furlough almost all our
employees. We then had to pivot fast and furious to an online delivery model: reducing
the menus so that a skeleton crew could execute the food, redoing all the
websites, programing the items into an online platform, changing the hours,
changing the phone systems, reprinting menus, flyers, posters – literally
everything. And of course, we had to figure out where the revenue would now
come from to pay the rent, insurance, BGE, and the telephone system, all the
March pre-COVID bills and credit cards, just to name the big things! We
were already planning to add liquor to our repertoire as Millers Deli was
closing. Opening the liquor business helped save us. Without this critical
revenue, we may not still be open! Business is recovering, but it is slow.
We now operate differently. We have a
comprehensive online ordering system. We offer curbside pick-up and free
delivery in a three-mile radius, with a nominal charge outside that. We hired a
full-time employee whose sole responsibility is to walk around and sanitize
tables, chairs, door handles, and wash stations. We, and the landlord, have
placed sanitizer everywhere. Tables are six feet apart, where possible, and
where not possible, guests are seated six feet apart, unless they are part of
one family unit. Almost all our Shabbat food is delivered to our clients. Some
folks still shop in the store, but we encourage them to get on our mailing
list. Every Thursday morning, we send a flyer detailing our Shabbat offerings,
and clients have until
We will be offering free delivery to the
clients on our customer list, as well as the ability to order ahead of time. We
have a dedicated staff person and dedicated email to liaise with our
holiday clients. We will be offering very attractive alcohol packages to
our
* * *
I would have loved
to speak to all the businesses that advertise in the Where What When, but I would have had to write a book instead of an
article, because each business is its own little world. Every business has had
to reinvent itself to accommodate to the new normal. As a community, let’s
continue to support each other’s businesses as we look forward to the time when
we can go back to the normal normal.
Sidebar
Portrait
of a Business
At Nelson Coleman Jewelers, helping our customers during a
pandemic is something we don’t take lightly. Our approach comprises six main
areas:
1) Making
sure our customers feel safe: We adhere to the strictest CDC
guidelines. Masks are mandatory for both staff and clients. We have implemented
an hourly sanitation schedule. We have added plexiglass shields between team
members and customers, and also added markers to help our clients know where to
stand six feet apart.
2) Training: We
have responded to this crisis by training best practices. We have created
transactions that keep both staff and customers safe and comfortable.
3) Essential workers need to know
that we care: Our marketing director launched a campaign to give
away a free pearl necklace to every essential worker who provided us with his
or her credentials. We gave away over 300 necklaces. It is our hope that when
these essential workers look at their new pearl necklace, they’ll be reminded
of the love our community has for their bravery and sacrifice.
4) We enhanced our website, so
that our clients can still celebrate their special life moments with a perfect
piece of jewelry that would last a lifetime. We made the online experience as
beautiful, frictionless, and close to in-store shopping as we could – with
detailed information, true-to-life images, magical descriptions, and speedy
response times.
5) We offered our clients a
trusting and safe environment to secure loans on their jewelry.
We had never done this in the past, but we wanted our clients to have access to
money to help them in this time of need.
6) One of the biggest ways
we helped our clients was to educate ourselves. We reached out
to our clients, asking how they were doing and what we could do to help. We
wanted to make sure that we had the right information to help our community and
carry our sixth-generation business forward.
At Nelson Coleman Jewelers, we
like to say that we’re not the best jewelry around because we’re the oldest
(established 1856); we’re the oldest because we’re the best. Before COVID, we
promised to provide our clients with the best experience possible. During this
time of unprecedented crisis, we felt compelled to not only deliver on our past
promise but to create an even stronger legacy that would push us through this
time and beyond.
