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On Tuesday — the last day for an unknown period that a customer could walk through the glass-paned front door of Bear Pond Books — business was busier than normal for the Montpelier bookstore.
By mid-morning Wednesday, the lights were still on and two employees were still behind the check-out area, but plastic mail crates with neatly stacked book-stuffed bags had replaced live customers.
“It’s telling us there’s a need for books,” co-owner Claire Benedict said of Tuesday’s rush. “But we just felt like it wasn’t responsible to the community to encourage people to come in.”
Benedict has co-owned the store since 2006 and couldn’t recall shuttering the store to customers except “once for a flood, maybe.” Now, like many restaurants, grocers and other businesses around Vermont, Bear Pond Books has started offering curbside pickup and area delivery in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus while still remaining open.
Although phones have been ringing off the hook, with a “couple dozen” backdoor pickups Tuesday and delivery requests starting to come in, Benedict said she had to ask some staff not to work this week. Most of the store’s business has historically come from walk-ins.
“It’s a tough time and if there’s a way people can support other stores, if only by buying gift certificates or taking advantage of their pickup options … we’re really going to need the community support,” she added.
Gov. Phil Scott’s announcement that bars and restaurants needed to close down as of Tuesday afternoon, except to offer takeout and delivery, upended the Vermont food industry and forced changes overnight. (The federal government is now advising that the most at risk populations — older people and those with compromised immune systems — stay at home.)
Kelli Hurle, co-owner of The Dutchman’s Tavern in Bennington, said the last patrons left at 3 p.m. Tuesday, with the tavern doing 35 pickup orders between 5 and 7 p.m. that night. Hurle said it’s just the two owners working now — “Chris is doing the cooking, I’m doing take-out and delivery” — as they’ve had to let all of their staff go. She’s thankful most of their employees, except kitchen staff, have other jobs.
“It’s overwhelming to have to go through all this,” Hurle said, adding that the support from the community since the transition away from sit-down service has been “enormous.”
“Lots of tips when you usually don’t get tips on to-gos. … I had a customer call back last night to say how wonderful the meal was,” she added.
Craftsbury General Store co-owner Kit Basom said that her store has started to offer bulk buying and pickup, knowing that some community members will not want to come into the store.
“It’s a combination of keeping the space as clean as possible, and knowing that there’s a lot of folks who are going to need things but not be able to go out and get them themselves,” she said.
By 10 a.m. Wednesday, five people had already called for curbside pickup. Basom added that she has been coordinating with volunteers to offer delivery, but has not had any requests yet.
And the “genny” is offering curbside pickups for its popular Wednesday night dinners. On the menu this week: Belizean pulled pork with rice, beans and salsa.
Wendy Horne, owner of Keeler’s Bay Variety in South Hero, said her store has been the busiest she’s seen it in March until Wednesday, when things slowed down a little.
“It’s like every day was before a snowstorm,” she said, adding that most customers have been buying perishable goods, with an “insane” run on ground beef.
Horne has been doing free home deliveries for residents of South Hero, North Hero and Grand Isle. “I will do it no matter what,” she said of delivering groceries. “We’ll stay open unless somebody tells us we can’t.”
Some grocers — including Burlington’s City Market and chain stores Price Chopper and Hannaford’s — already offer grocery delivery. When asked whether delivery requests had increased at Price Chopper’s Vermont stores, Mona Golub, vice president of customer relations, said “Oh my goodness, yes.”
And some local farms — including Huntington’s Maple Wind Farm and East Hardwick’s Snug Valley Farm — are planning to offer home deliveries. Vermont Fresh Network has a list of restaurants and farms offering takeout, curbside pickup or delivery in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Ren Weinerz, owner of Miss Weinerz, has been making her renowned sourdough pastries while self-isolating as she is immunocompromised. As of Wednesday, Weinerz has transitioned her business from wholesale orders to pickups at a couple Burlington coffee shops and home delivery. While home delivery includes a fee for drivers, who leave orders outside to avoid in-person contact, Miss Weinerz is now selling donuts “at cost” to feed neighbors and friends.
“I have friends who can’t leave their homes because they were traveling like a week ago,” she said. “I have friends who can’t leave their homes because somebody they worked with has now tested positive.”
Noting that she is boiling tap water for her sourdough starter and has talked to every scientist she knows, Weinerz said she is “taking every caution and I’m responding with every bit of information as I get it.”
Wednesday’s donut flavors were honey glazed, elderberry glazed and sumac sugar. She hopes to start making soups, teas and broths for delivery soon.
“We’re trying to make food that’s good, while still keeping the joy factor going,” she said.
Volunteer delivery efforts
Across the state, Vermonters have started to organize networks of volunteers willing to deliver groceries, medicine and supplies for those who can’t leave the house.
Scott Pavek, who organized a volunteer delivery network in the Burlington area, said so far he’s had more than 75 people sign up to volunteer — but almost no one has signed up yet for deliveries.
The only request that’s come in so far was in his neighborhood, so he did it himself.
“That’s a good thing, of course, that we aren’t at that point yet” of needing more deliveries, Pavek said, adding “But also a sign that we really need to take this information offline and better reach the populations who are isolated and quarantined.”
Jen Smith, who’s organizing a similar network in the Richmond area, has had almost exactly the same ratio of volunteers to delivery requests.
“Like a lot of other people, I’m just coming up with a process to address what people need before that need becomes overwhelming,” she said.
Smith said she has concerns about her volunteers’ safety, but thinks this is the best option available, given the circumstances.
“From my perspective, someone has to go to grocery stores, they can’t shut down entirely, we don’t have the capacity to not food shop,” Smith said.
The Vermont Department of Health has issued COVID-19 guidelines for restaurants and inns but does not yet have specific guidance for those doing delivery service. Ben Truman, department spokesperson, said that state health departments have been discussing creating those.
Helping and Nurturing Diverse Seniors, a Burlington nonprofit that puts on an annual Christmas dinner, is also seeking volunteers for home deliveries to seniors.
