When we closed over 2 weeks ago we did it to make a plan for operating in the new normal. We knew we couldn’t keep doing things the way we were & just add delivery. Kudos to my husband who had us preparing for Quarantine Life a month before it started. (He’s obsessed with The Daily Podcast- check it out son) After being in a state of denial/panic at the end of Feb, we started to make some adjustments. We had to scale back deliveries, put new partnerships on hold. It broke my heart to cancel orders w/makers who depended on us for income, for many it was their first wholesale relationship/ their first door in the US.
We’ve never taken a loan to finance our growth. Every dollar we make is put it back into the business. This year, we opened our 2nd location @fredsegal. Of course no one could have predicted this, but it was hard not to feel humiliated/stupid after investing everything we had into an expansion. But no time to lick our wounds. We made a plan.
So we spent our 12 days closed assessing the new world, determined to continue to serve our community for what we anticipated would be a long road. Our goal was to try to build a plan to break-even, pay our employees, cover our rent and most importantly serve all of you who helped us build this business that we wholeheartedly love running every GD day.
We took a look at how the world had adjusted… good/bad, with the goal to do what we always do, give you more time doing the things that matter most. We redesigned our website to make it easier to use and then we thought about what was missing. I didn’t want to go to crowded markets w/ exposed produce & a check out process that didn’t practice social distancing.
That first week we tested multiple vendors & distributors for produce bundles. I reached out to all the vendors who we cancelled/delayed orders with to see if they were still operational & to what degree. We patched together a way to take your orders, set appointment times & make deliveries. Is it perfect? No. But did we put something in place that has everyone’s safety as our number one priority? Fuck yes we did.
See our stories & upcoming pics for how we’re going to be here to serve you.