Dan & Whit’s in Norwich has begun home delivery of store items. West Lebanon Feed & Supply has introduced curbside pickup at its store on North Main Street.
Brownsville Butcher & Pantry will deliver prepared and cooked meals from its menu to customers in self-quarantine or those considered to be in the “high-risk, immunocompromised population.” Yankee Bookshop in Woodstock is now offering “free front porch delivery” of book purchases.
Lucky’s Coffee Garage in Lebanon is now only taking orders to go. Juel Juice + Smoothies in White River Junction is no longer filling, just like the Starbucks in West Lebanon and Hanover, beverages in reusable cups. Jesse’s restaurant in Hanover has suspended its Sunday brunch buffet and salad bar.
Businesses across the Upper Valley last week began adjusting and accommodating how they interact with their customers and the public as the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread across the world, reacting to guidance issued by health and public safety authorities. At the same time, business owners are bracing for an economic fallout as they anticipate a decline in sales not seen since the Great Recession more than a decade ago.
One of the biggest factors affecting Upper Valley businesses, especially those centered around Hanover, is Dartmouth College’s directive to its 4,400 undergraduate students not to return from spring break until May 1 and to be prepared to stay away from campus all term. Classes instead will be conducted online, and the college on Friday night asked its employees — including 900 faculty and 3,000 staff — to work from home if they can to avoid possible transmission of the new coronavirus.
But downtown Hanover merchants — particularly restaurants, coffee shops and retail stores — depend upon students and their visiting families to sustain their businesses.
The impact on local businesses could be “potentially devastating,” said Jay Campion, a Hanover commercial real estate owner and developer of the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center in Lebanon.
“We’re on the receiving end and we roll the way the big institutions roll,” Campion said, referring to how closely the Upper Valley economy is tied to both the college and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. “Closing campus is pretty catastrophic for all the service and retail businesses.”
Several Hanover businesses reported that, like a coastal town waiting for a tsunami created by an earthquake thousands of miles away to crash on shore, they haven’t yet experienced a major disruption but are preparing for what they see as inevitable — and looking at what changes it might lead to.
“We’ve actually been busier than in previous years,” said Lou’s Restaurant owner Jarett Berke on Friday morning from behind the counter of the longtime South Main Street eatery. “I’ve been kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Nonetheless, Berke said he’s noticed some indications that things may be shifting. On Thursday, about one-third of Lou’s sales were for takeout orders, double the usual amount. Berke said he’s not sure if that’s driven by customers wanting to avoid “sitting down in a busy restaurant” or a rush of students ordering food to go as they ride out of town.
But next door to Lou’s at the gift shop The Lemon Tree, owner Melissa Haas said that the lower foot traffic in downtown Hanover is already noticeable.
“We are definitely feeling the impact already. This last 10 days has shown a steady and very noticeable decline in customers” to Lemon Tree’s stores in Hanover and at the Powerhouse Mall in West Lebanon, she said. “Needless to say, with all the Dartmouth closings, that will have a significant impact on our business.”
“We just have to wait this out and hope for the best. We are having to look seriously at our staffing,” Haas said. “That is where it’s going to be especially tough. It took us a long time to find a great group of employees and it’s going to be very hard to have to cut hours now, but we have no choice.”.
Jason Merrill, chief operating officer and a partner at the Worthy Burger in South Royalton and Worthy Kitchen in Woodstock, said that he too is expecting an uptick in customers calling in to-go orders.
“We’re gearing up for more takeout orders and getting a lot more takeout boxes than we usually carry,” he said. “If it gets really crazy, we’ll have a dedicated person handling takeout.”
On Friday, the Upper Valley Business Alliance organized a “COVID-19 briefing” with Hanover and Lebanon officials and about 20 area business owners at Lebanon’s temporary city offices on West Park Street and about 100 people listening in on a dial-in conference call.
At the meeting, which was meant to inform businesses how Lebanon and Hanover officials were coordinating information resources with state and federal authorities, the town and city managers urged business owners to follow the health and safety protocols issued by authorities — wiping door knobs with sanitizer, washing hands frequently and emphasizing employees stay home if they experience flu-like symptoms.
“It’s not too early for everyone to start social-distancing practices,” said Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin, referring to methods of separation like staying 6 feet away from others when out in public.
Tracy Hutchins, executive director of UVBA, urged attendees to “think how you can be creative” in operating a business when mobility and person-to-person contact is limited.
“If you’re a business that meets with clients, think about using Skype or Zoom,” Hutchins said, pointing to two online video call services. “Or Facebook Live posts to show what is going on in the store,” suggesting business owners “show a little levity as well … take pictures of your staff wearing gloves. It sounds silly but we’re going to need some silliness at this point.”
John Lippman can be reached at jlippman@vnews.com.
