Page 27 - BusinessWest January 24, 2022

skyrocketed. “The same containers I used to buy for $35 a case now cost $100, and that’s if I pick them up myself.”
Another problem is finding the right supplies. Kanoujia pointed out not all containers are equal, just like not all cuisines are equal.
“Our food is curry-based, so I need to use containers that will hold the heat and not scald the person handling it,” he said, adding that he’s
“Probably in late December we noticed a little slowdown because of the resurfacing of Omicron and the changing variants. But overall, it was a very good year.”
grateful Northampton has backed off a proposed ban on plastic takeout supplies for now, because supply-chain issues often make plastic the only available choice.
He’s far from the only restaurateur who made a hard pivot into takeout over the past two years. At Fitzwilly’s, takeout service, never a major fac- tor in the business, morphed into a significant part of the model, accounting for about 25%
of sales at its peak, when indoor capacity was restricted. While those restrictions were still in play, other restaurants relied even more heavily on pick-up service — 75% or more, in some cases — because they don’t have the interior space or outdoor-dining opportunities that Fitzwilly’s has.
To move outdoors, as many Hampshire Coun- ty establishments did, Gohr rented a large park-
ing lot next door in 2020 and used it for tented outdoor dining, seating up to 70 patrons under the tent. The option proved so successful, he returned to it in 2021 — and wants to keep doing so, if possible.
“For the last two summers, state’s ABCC [Alco- holic Beverage Control Commission] made it much easier to get an extension of the premises necessary to make that happen, so I’m talking to the [city] License Commission and ABCC now
to make sure we can do that,” he explained. “I’ve already talked to the fellow that owns the parking and have his blessing. Now it’s in the hands of the License Commission and ABCC.”
Gohr noted that restaurants that remained closed the longest during the peak of the pan- demic may be finding it more difficult to secure and retain staff now. “We got up and running fairly quickly with takeout back in the spring 2020, and when it was outdoor dining only, we kept the tables under the tent pretty full and kept our staff busy. Folks who weren’t able to do that are probably having a little more difficult time now with staff.”
Across Main Street from Fitzwilly’s, a hand- ful of restaurants teamed up last year, with the city’s blessing, on an initiative called Summer on Strong, closing off a section of Strong Avenue to traffic and setting up tables on the street. It was a huge success, packing the road each night.
Inside restaurants, patrons in Northampton, Amherst, South Hadley, and other communities have had to continue wearing masks under man- dates that have never really loosened over the past two years, Graham said. But he noted that the college students who make up much of the region’s restaurant business are already used to
wearing masks to live and study on campus, and other patrons have been gracious about under- standing the need for them.
“We do provide masks for those who don’t have one; we’ll hand them out,” he said. “But we haven’t run into too many problems in that area.”
Yee agreed. “Customers have been really work- ing with us and understanding for the most part. We haven’t had too many disgruntled customers over the mask situation — very few of them.”
Welcome Mat
During the holiday season, the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce and the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce promoted their local restaurants — and retailers and service businesses as well — with gift-card programs (and, in Amherst’s case, a gift-card-matching promotion).
After all, anything that helps the county’s res- taurants bounce back from an Omicron-infused winter will be welcome.
“The last few weeks with the new variant cer- tainly slowed us down considerably,” Gohr said. “But January and February, after the holidays, are always a quieter time for us, and for Northamp- ton in general.”
After that? Well, he’s hoping to see another winter of pent-up demand manifest at his tables.
“We had a good ’21, I think. The Omicron vari- ant is at the forefront of people’s minds, but once we get through that, barring another variant, the spring and into summer should be good.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
New Year, New Goals.
BestLocalBank.com
MEMBER FDIC MEMBER DIF
Our team of commercial lenders are here to help you reach them!
Local Business Lenders Individual Lending Authority SBA Preferred Lender
BusinessWest
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY
JANUARY 24, 2022 27