Page 8 - BusinessWest February 17, 2021
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 as much; I think they’re now used to it and able to figure out what to do. I’m hearing a lot of stories of restaurants that are doing well with takeout, which helps make up for the low capacity, but it’s still not easy.”
The same goes for outdoor dining — like take- out, a feature many restaurants either launched or vastly expanded out of necessity, but plan to stick with post-pandemic.
“A lot of places will continue with that because
“With the way things are going for some of my friends who have closed down, I’m thrilled we’re still open. I’ve had to take advantage of PPP loans and disaster-relief loans in order to make sure we can stay open, but we are still
able to serve our patients and clients, and they’re excited to be coming in.”
they can expand their capacity with outdoor din- ing and had such success with it,” Creed said. “Customers are telling them, ‘we’ve always want- ed outdoor dining, and we hope you keep it.’”
Yankee Mattress saw intriguing changes in cus- tomer behavior as well.
Nick Noblit says he’s had to manage overflow lines rarely during the pandemic, most notably during tax-free weekend in August.
         “The number of
people who don’t want to stop in, we made up for over the phones,” Noblit said, noting that 2020 was a strong year for online sales as well. “Because of the shutdown, we were closed almost three months, and during that period of time, the only way you could get a mattress was online.”
Even after stores were allowed to open later that spring, many customers continued to use
the online option, which was a bit surprising, he added. “This is definitely an item, I believe, you should try before, so you know what’s comfort- able for you. But it was a sign that our customers in this area took the pandemic very seriously and are taking precautions, and if that meant calling over the phone and making decisions based on our products and our name, that’s OK too.”
While companies have rolled with the capac-
      8 FEBRUARY 17, 2021
FEATURE
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