Entrepreneurs Dan and Lisa Freeman are the owners of downtown Springfield’s Le Torte Dolci pastry shop and Salato Deli. In a short time, the restaurants have become staples of the Fountain Avenue strip and key components of the DORA neighborhood for events like First Friday. They were also in the midst of opening a third restaurant, Crust & Company, at COhatch The Market. However, with the onset of COVID-19 and social distancing orders, the business owners have had to take a new look at how to rework their plans to not only survive but thrive. They shared the lessons they've learned and how they’ve decided to move forward with The Hub:
Q: What are some changes you’ve made and ways you've adapted in each of your restaurants since COVID-19 started requiring business changes across our community?
A: Lisa - We already adhere to strong cleanliness standards that go beyond normal health department standards, but we built upon those standards and added timed cleaning of door handles, credit card machines, and anything anyone touches.
Dan - We also began offering curbside ordering and pickup right away in both businesses. Shortly after that, we added delivery from both. Recently, we began offering family-size/style meals at the deli, and we plan to continue that because of a great initial response.
Q: How did you come to these business changes?
A: Lisa - We are both flexible and creative. We saw the direction things were going, so we began discussing the possible need to change things.
Dan - The bakery is mainly a carryout business, while the deli is mainly dine-in. So, we knew the bakery wouldn't need a lot of change, but the deli would have to flip to mainly carryout. We had recently established our online ordering system at the deli; we just hadn't marketed it yet, so we began to market it heavily.
Q: Some locally owned restaurants have decided to close during this time. Why did you decide to stay open?
A: Dan - We stayed open because people need some normalcy. Nothing brings people together better than good food. Not everyone wants to cook everything. They still want to treat themselves or let someone else do the cooking. We love our employees dearly, and we love our community dearly. We want to continue to serve both under the new rules for as long as we are allowed.
Lisa - We are devoted to the people who choose every day to spend their time giving the best that they have to us and our customers. We want to make sure they have a job to come to, so they don't have to worry about their livelihood.
Q: Are there challenges that you hadn't expected that you've had to overcome in the days since first making the business shift because of the pandemic?
A: Lisa - We had a few staffing challenges with some staff unable to continue working due to involvement in National Guard or because they were in a higher risk category.
Dan - There have also been challenges in predicting demand. Sometimes the demand for food in either business is much greater than expected. This leaves us either short on staff or short on product. The opposite has also been true. When we thought a time would be busy, it may not be, so we are constantly adjusting on the fly.
Q: What advice would you give to fellow small businesses during this time?
A: Dan & Lisa - Be flexible and adapt. Try to think about all the possible ways things could go right, wrong or sideways and brainstorm solutions and alternatives.
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