By Joshua Phelps
The Scene staff
It’s been more than a month since the city of St. Louis ordered all bars and restaurants to stop offering dine-in services due to the coronavirus pandemic, and those near Forest Park are coping in different ways.
Some have closed temporarily. Others are continuing with pickup or delivery.
Brew Hub Taproom, which is half a block west of campus at 5656 Oakland Ave., closed on March 17. That was the day St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson announced the order, although it didn’t take effect until midnight on March 19.
“We wanted to move swiftly,” said Diane Schoen, vice president of marketing. “We wanted our employees to be safe.
Everybody was starting to get nervous. Nobody knew what would happen, or how bad it was going to be (or) what the states were going to do. Everybody was scared, and there were a lot of unknowns.”
Brew Hub laid off all 18 of its employees. Management decided not to offer pickup or delivery because the restaurant and bar has limited freezer storage and prepares more of its food fresh on site, Schoen said.
“We weren’t set up for takeout orders and to-go food,” she said.
Bloom Cafe, which is half a block east of campus at 5200 Oakland Ave., closed on March 18. It’s operated by Paraquad, a nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities become independent.
The restaurant doubled as a job-training program for some clients.
“It’s been tough,” said Aimee Wehmeier, president of Paraquad. “We did close because we did not have enough business in the carryout realm to support staying open.”
During the closure, a volunteer is taking care of the flowers, herbs and other plants outside Bloom Cafe and Paraquad’s headquarters.
“We’re still doing building services, taking care of maintenance and that includes the garden,” Wehmeier said.
Comet Coffee & Microbakery, which is west of campus at 5708 Oakland Ave. in The Highlands Plaza, remains open for curbside pickup. The business is owned by Stephanie Atwood, a graduate of Forest Park’s culinary arts program, and her husband, Mark Atwood.
The coffee house and bakery is operating with reduced hours, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
“We’ve lost about three-quarters of our employees, but we’re managing,” Mark Atwood said.
The Imo’s Pizza location at Hampton and Oakland also is open for pickup and delivery and is “doing well,” according to Nick Palank, director of marketing for the St. Louis-based chain.
The company hasn’t faced the same struggles as other businesses, Palank said. He noted that Imo’s started delivering in 1964 and still considers that its “specialty.”
“Some (locations) have seen a little bit of a dip, but overall the delivery and the curbside pickup we’re offering is still going well,” Palank said. “We’re getting a lot of regular customers day in and day out. For us, there are no red flags.
It’s still business as usual.”
Brew Hub and Bloom Cafe applied for small-business loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act to help them get through the pandemic. CARES is a $2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress and signed into law March 27 by President Donald Trump.
Loans will be forgiven if small businesses keep employees on the payroll. Bloom Cafe was approved for one.
“We have been fortunate enough to keep our employees paid during this time,” Wehmeier said.
Paycheck Protection Program money ran out during its first phase, before Brew Hub was approved, but it has since been re-funded. The bar’s owners applied for a second time and are waiting to see if they’re eligible.
Some Imo’s Pizza franchise owners applied for loans under the CARES Act, Palank said, but he didn’t specify which ones.
Comet Coffee applied for a low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Advance Loan through the Small Business Administration and was approved. That program existed before the pandemic, but the CARES Act expanded it.
“I applied the day it became available,” Mark Atwood said.