Optimism, Innovation Abound as Lansdale Businesses Adapt to Crisis

Bruce Schwartz•

Lansdale Borough’s bustling business community, ground to a near-standstill by the coronavirus pandemic, is responding in imaginative ways – and with a sense of optimism for the future, as long as they can endure the next few weeks.

Interviews with shop owners, tavern and brewery operators and service providers show a sense of common purpose and community. Businesses are reaching out not just to customers, but also to those in need. And they’re concerned as well for their own employees, working reduced hours or none at all.

"It’s unprecedented. Nothing prepares you for something like this,” says Marat Mamedov, co-owner of Boardroom Spirits. "The people who will take the full brunt of this are the hospitality industry, restaurant workers, hourly people. It’s challenging. We’ve had to cut hours, and with Northbound (their sister restaurant in Souderton) closing down and our inability to sell cocktails here, we’ve been shifting our model.”

Boardroom has moved from tasting and dining to direct delivery and pick-up sales of spirits and pre-crafted cocktails. More significantly, they’re also turning their considerable distilling capacity to ethyl alcohol – and turning that into hand sanitizer for free distribution. "High-proof alcohol, with hydrogen peroxide, glycerin and water,” he says. "It’s about 68 percent alcohol, and it’s highly effective.”

Distribution hours for free sanitizer are noon-1 and 5-6 p.m. daily at the distillery; the sanitizer is a bring-your-own bottle operation. And Mamedov adds that the limiting factor for production is the scarcity of peroxide; anyone who has extra to spare is asked to contact Boardroom directly.

The current crunch can be particularly tough on new businesses. For Small Batch Kitchen Café and Market, which opened last July, says owner Sheila Rhodes Delp, "just not knowing what the demand is and what the restrictions might be – the unknown is the most frustrating thing at this point.”

The café has moved to takeout and delivery, and the market has "brought in a bunch of produce to help fill in with some of the grocery-store demand issues,” says Delp.

"We have sliced bread, milk and eggs,” she says. "You can find locally sourced apples, carrots, green beans, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mixed greens. And we’re offering our market items curbside, so if you aren’t comfortable coming into the store, we’ll bring your grocery order right out to your car, or deliver in a two-mile radius.”

Continually working with local farmers and producers, Delp is particularly aware of the effect of the crisis on the food supply chain.

"I think it’s really important to support (the farmers) now,” she says, "so they can plan for their growing seasons and know there’ll be community support for what they’re planting. Their outlay of cash is happening now.”

For taverns and breweries, the crisis has meant hitting the road – in ways they never have. Round Guys Brewing Co.'s Andrew Carroll made a run to deliver their distinctive brew to a long-time customer and fan – meeting in a Sunoco Gas Station's parking lot nearly an hour's drive away.

"We started running food and beer deliveries as of Tuesday,” says Carroll. "And we’ve brewed three times this week. Life gave us a bunch of lemons, so we made beer.”

Owner Scott Rudich notes that "everyone is doing more. I spent the chunk of the morning and early afternoon canning by myself. Our brewer is on pace for five batches this week, as we just try to make sure we have beer available should we have the chance to sell it.”

Besides takeout and delivery, Rudich’s operation depends greatly on restaurant and retail partners. "We do a lot of draft keg sales, and if these restaurants don’t recover, we will have to decide how our production staff are affected,” he says.

Rudich is particularly grateful to Wegman’s Food Markets.

"Our Wegman’s partners have been amazing,” he says. "Nearly every store that we sell to has bought as much beer from us as they can. I can’t thank Wegmans enough for acting responsibly and looking to help us out in this crunch.”

Both Rudich and Carroll worry about the employees that had to be laid off earlier this week. "We are working as best we can to maintain the company and our place in the community, so we all have something to come back to,” says Carroll.

"We want Round Guys to still be a part of this community when this subsides,” says Rudich, "so we are all moving out of our comfort zone to make sure we can continue to serve the North Penn area in the future. The response so far has been fantastic.”

Another novice to the Lansdale business scene, Buddy Harris, new owner of the Lansdale Tavern, says that at least the forced business shift "gives us a chance to work on our takeout practices as well as make some (small) changes inside the bar. We are taking this time to look over the past two months, regroup and switch some focuses.”

In general, he says, "It’s been a drastic change in our business philosophy. We were never a business that thrived on takeout, and now it’s all we have to depend on. We also relied on alcohol sales first – now, obviously, it’s mostly all food sales.”

Nonetheless, "we’re staying afloat,” says Harris. "Business has been very good so far, thanks to the unbelievable support from the community. Everyone has stepped up in a big way, and we will do our best to reciprocate.”

Lansdale Borough, itself forced to close offices and curtail operations, is working behind the scenes to help local enterprises keep the lights on.

"These are very challenging times for us all, and we are thinking and learning about different ways of doing things,” says Borough Manager John Ernst. "One of our roles here in the borough is to partner with our business community to help lessen the burden.”

To help folks find essential businesses still in operation, the borough is working on an interactive map "that will include locations, hours of operation, and any modified services or instructions that apply during this time,” says Economic Development Committee Chair Carrie Hawkins Charlton. "Working in conjunction with Discover Lansdale, we would like to provide this information to help our local business community safely connect with the community.”

A sampling of other Lansdale businesses in limited operation:

West Main Consignment. Owner Janice Tindall is "concerned about rent, utilities, taxes,” she admits, but is "not going to stress about it. We are all impacted.” She is at the store Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 1 to 5 p.m., but keeping the doors locked. Consignment terms are extended, and she’s marketing through Facebook and Instagram. Contact her through FB or phone.
Village Auto Repair. Despite a flow of information from government that "changes almost by the hour,” says owner Keith Heilveil, "we have determined that we are an essential business and allowed to remain open.” He has "implemented multi-stage cleaning procedures for vehicles and equipment, prior and post service,” he says, and routinely communicates with customers thru social media and email.
Manhattan Bagel. Franchise owner Don Bradley says he closed the entire store front, eliminating takeout, and is focusing on drive-through service, 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. "We service a lot of people in the emergency services and medical business, a lot of those people use the drive-through for morning coffee and breakfast – or dinner if they’re working overnight – and we’re still seeing that here,” he says. They’re accepting phone orders for the first time, delivering through Doordash and Uber Eats, and have debuted an app for download from Apple and Android, ManhattanNow, for online ordering and payment. Bradley says he’s also willing to discuss using his drive-through for delivery of other essentials or perhaps emergency supplies, in partnership with other borough businesses. "I’m open to getting creative,” he says. "Everyone wants to do the right thing.”
Wister's Barbecue. Owner Michael Wister says, "We're adapting very well because our model is already mostly takeout. We just leave the chairs up in the dining room." The front area has been rearranged for contactless pickup, and Wister himself does much of the delivering. And while it's not business as usual, he says, "At this rate we will be able to keep going. We haven't had to lay people off."
Well Crafted Beer Co. Like Round Guys and Lansdale Tavern, Well Crafted has had to transition to a pick-up and delivery system. "We are adapting every day,” says co-owner Nica Bellenger. "Online sales and takeout have only been operating since Tuesday, so we don't have a lot of information on how we're doing.” Nonetheless, if this had to happen, she says she’s grateful it has happened in this town. "Lansdale has and always will be one of the best places to run a business,” she says. "We have kept in close contact with everyone to ensure we all are up to date on changes, understand employee and economic impacts, and just to maintain the brotherly-sisterly love that is being a business in Lansdale."

"The people in this community continue to amaze us, not only by their willingness to work with us on new purchasing options, but also their support for each other,” says Bellenger. "Every action being taken, from providing food and essentials to the production of sanitizer from Boardroom, shows the type of community we are.

"We are hopeful that Lansdale businesses will come out on top after all this is over," she says. "And once again we will be able to share a few Hop Mongers and Blonde Americanos, while listening to our favorite bands.”