Corona Virus, Now, Tom Brady.... We Don't Know If We Can Take It Anymore!!!
All joking aside, today certainly felt like a scene out of The Walking Dead. For the first time since this whole Corona Virus outbreak, I visited my local super market and it was spooky! Seeing the shelves being completely empty was totally wild! There are less cars on the road that's for sure. My commute to the shop was smooth cruising and quick. Social media has been a place where businesses post their temporary shut downs. It's really saddening but also terrifying. We literally just had our air flow exchange installed. A costly investment which would allow us to convert our space from manufacturing and production to full service! Then the Corona Virus rolls up and completely changes our plans.
For the first time ever, we decided to offer a delivery service and customer pick up option. As expected it was a little quiet. When we began to sense that it could be a slow day and we used our time wisely. We baked fresh croissants and cookies. Amanda and I chatted about ideas on how to promote and push the 6.6k cans that are arriving this week.
It is a very scary time. We have so much invested into this space and our luck has been tough. With red tape issues during construction, budgeting, now cancelations of some major pop up events and postponements. NOTHING seems to be going our way. I do know we aren't the only ones facing similar issues. I just have to stay positive.
Where do we start?
Cans: Our cans will be arriving this week. Since the Corona Virus began, our country has slowed down on goods entering the country. A good amount of aluminum cans are manufactured and shipped to the US from China. We searched the country for cans. It certainly was a challenge but our awesome friends over at Vitamin Sea hooked us up with their connect. Here is the catch. With so much unpredictability it is tough to justify purchasing a large number of cans, however we took a big gamble and purchased our very first pallets worth of cans. We don't know how long the shortage will last so we will begin mass brewing cold brew right away and start shipping out orders! Cans will also be available for customer pick up or deliveries within an 8 mile radius depending on designated shop days.
Delivery & Pick Up
Right now we are not offering full service seating. This is to keep our team safe and the community. Today was our very first test of the delivery day and we did ok. We will not hype ourselves up. 100% honesty here, we did better than we expected but the numbers are still very concerning. We partnered up with Sharonna's Magically Baked Goods to offer their famously fresh pita! We learned that our croissants were a huge hit as well so we have added that to our menu. We will continue to add more as we begin to see this service pick up more. For now unfortunately we will pick back up on Friday. Please continue to support us through our website by purchasing bags of coffee or cans! Thank you so much for your never ending support.
Tap & Can Accounts: If you visit our tap and can map you can see where you can get our nitro. Right now some businesses are not running at full capacity. Please be sure to reach out to these businesses before visiting to purchase Church St. products. We can say that this week new kegs on tap were delivered. Freshies on tap recently delivered to Whisk & Paddle, CrossFit Rail Trail, and at Spark Bike Run Sports.
Supporting Local: We are really feeling it all over the country. I have spoken with friends in the hospitality business and folks are being laid off left and right. Local service industry businesses both privately owned or group are also laying off employees, cutting down shop hours or even permanently closing during these unpredictable times! We do have a list of folks we strongly recommend you visiting.
Here is our list!!
Fox and Knife : Located in the heart of Boston they are selling sauces and pasta by the pound!
PVDonuts : Best donuts in RI! Our friends are taking extra precautions to keep the public and their team safe. They are still operational but have made changes to their service to provide you the best donut experience, while being extra safe from the scary world out there!
Whisk & Paddle : This little cute shop is located in North Attleboro MA. Their delicious baked goods and pastries are to die for! We will drop a shameless plug here and add that they also have our nitro coffee and tea cold brew on tap!
Our Top 3 Breweries: Widow Maker Brewing Vitamin Sea Brewing Long Live Beer Works
Top 3 Coffee Shops To Visit: Seabird Coffee Kaffeology Bolt
We are not 100% sure on everyones operational hours and how they are approaching the whole Corona Virus ordeal but we do ask that you double check everyone social media or websites that I have provided!
Please follow us on social media! If you are looking for cans be sure to support us rather than purchasing a corporate coffee business found on grocery store shelves. We don't need to be giving the rich more money! We love you all and when all this does pass, we will be flexing harder than ever!
