One year later: how COVID-19 has changed Hamden’s small businesses

By Matthew Bruin

Since March 2020, thousands of small businesses across the United States have been forced to close their doors due to COVID-19, making many business owners forever change the way they operate.

From laying off employees, cutting back on expenses, to completely changing the physical space inside stores, regular operation for small businesses was nearly impossible.

Kristen Goncalves, a member at Tuff Girl Fitness in Hamden was one person who noticed the dedication that the small business owners at her gym in Hamden had.

“I have not done any virtual gym classes before, so my house wasn’t set up, so thank goodness Mike and Christa were so agile and able to be so flexible during the time,” said Goncalves. “They even offered gym members to be able to use some of their equipment so that we can continue to work out at home with whatever space we had.”

On top of that, Goncalves explained that working out at Tuff Girl Fitness was like being a part of a community and she trusted the owners so much that she returned to the gym the first day that gyms were allowed to reopen in June 2020.

Now, as the one-year anniversary for COVID-19 lockdown has passed, many small businesses in Hamden have adapted new ways to operate that ensure their customers’ and employees’ safety, while at the same time remaining resilient.

Restaurants smothered a the pandemic

Aunt Chiladas, a restaurant on Whitney Avenue in North Hamden, was one business forced to lay off almost half of its employees. 

“We had to let go of probably 10 people. Some people moved away and some were students that went back to school, or went back home,” Charlie Hauge, the owner of Aunt Chiladas, said. “There were a lot of people that we just had to lay off because we just couldn’t afford them anymore.”

On top of layoffs, business for Hauge was not like anything he had ever seen before, and the changes within the first few months made running the restaurant difficult.

According to Yelp, as of Aug. 31, 2020, COVID-19 forced 32,109 restaurant closures in the United States. Of those closures, 19,590 were permanent. 

“When it happened about a year ago, it was very tough for the first two or three months, because the restaurant was not open, and all we could do was take out and delivery,” Hauge said. 

“Once the outdoor dining was available in May, business started to pick up very good, and then in June we were able to do limited indoor seating and that helped a lot.”

On top of these struggles and the use of the PPP loan, Aunt Chiladas also received a loan from the Barstool Fund to help ensure their survival in the Hamden community.

Sam Theroux, a 2020 graduate of Quinnipiac University said the Mexican restaurant nicknamed “Aunchies” is a traditional spot for the university’s seniors.

Similarly, the Playwright Irish Pub restaurant and bar, south on Whitney Avenue in the Whitneyville neighborhood, also took a hit.

Owner Eammon Ryan endured difficulties keeping the restaurant afloat. He also heavily relied on the PPP loan program. 

“We got the loan and used it up really fast because it was the only income that we had basically because we were shut down for indoor dining from March right through to June,” Ryan said. 

“The bills keep coming in, and we were here trying to do take out and delivery, but you still got your electric, your gas, all your utilities, that people don’t realize you have.”

Business has not been the same for Ryan since the start of the pandemic, he said, adding it is even harder to find people to work again.

“We have very limited staff right now, and it is impossible to get staff back, as well, because the government is giving them unemployment, plus the COVID money, so nobody wants to work.”

Now, as spring and warm weather fast approaches, Ryan and Hauge hope that outdoor dining spurs business again.

An essential business that continued to thrive

Patrice Notarfrancesco owns Whitneyville Food Center, a small grocery store that has stayed steady during the pandemic. 

Notarfrancesco, although dealing with many of the same changes as restaurants, was able to remain open and running as it was deemed an essential business.

Additionally, she installed a new filtration system on the roof of her store in order to prevent toxic particles and germs from entering her store.

In line with local expectations, she also installed plastic barriers, put arrows and markings on the ground in order to create a safer flow for customers.

Ellen Moriarty, a customer of Whitneyville Food Center, said that she was happy with the precautions Whitneyville Food Center has adopted.

“I think it is great, I know it is an expense but I know if they don’t do it, then they risk the chance of going out of business,” Moriarty. “I respect anything that any company did to try and make it safer and healthier.

This transition, although expensive, was something Notarfrancesco thought she and her employees did well. 

“It was such a good transition for our store, that we were all amazed that we still talk about it,” said Notarfrancesco.

Non-essential businesses making the best of state shutdowns

Unlike restaurants like Aunt Chiladas and Playwright Irish Pub — or a grocery store like the Whitneyville Food Center — some non-essential businesses such as gyms and hair salons were forced to fully close at the beginning of the pandemic.

Chirista Doran and her husband, the owners of Tuff Girl Fitness, said a two-month closure forced them to  completely change the way their gym ran. 

“Our income was cut dramatically, some people canceled their memberships right away, some people slowly canceled, some people stayed on with a virtual membership at a significantly lower monthly fee, so I think that that was the biggest thing for us,” said Doran. 

“We just made almost $200,000 less this year, which is a big chunk of change, so what that resulted in was that we had to cut back our staff.”

The Dorans, quick to find workout alternatives for their customers, scrambled to create full workout programs through zoom. 

A major obstacle, they said, was the lack of access to workout equipment, since most customers had relied on equipment at the gym.

“We had to rebuild a brand-new virtual business. We are an in-person business, with no virtual experience, and we had to build it,” said Doran. 

“We had to invest in new equipment. We worked with sound engineers, and video people, and lighting people, and now we have this whole virtual arm of our business. So, it’s like sink or swim.”

As they looked to integrate in-person training back to their portfolio, the Dorans said they prioritized safety more than anything.

At Tuff Girl Fitness, which is located in a commercial complex on Connolly Parkway, they created large 12 by 12 areas on the floor — double the space from what Centers for Disease Control suggest Members, thus, have their own space to train in, as well as a roll of paper towels and sanitizer.

“We took the safety of our client really seriously. We gave more space than we needed. We spent a lot of money that we didn’t have invested in the gym to make it this really safe place, and I have had some people say that I don’t go to the grocery store, but I will come here. And that to me speaks volumes.

“I could have made a lot more money if I crammed more people in there, but I didn’t do that because I care about people,” she said.

“I have a new mindset — we had to trim down our spending, so that is always a good thing, we have had to restructure our business, and this new format that we are using is actually really good and people really like it,” Doran said. 

With these changes, Doran added that she is grateful for how everything turned out, giving special thanks to the government for getting involved.

“I recognize that this is not normal to have your government step in and support you.” said Doran. “ I don’t think the government does not always do the right thing but, in this case, they really did.”

Small Talk Salon, owned by Katharine Healy, was also forced to close for the first two months of the pandemic shutdowns. However, due to their inability to move their business into a virtual setting, Healy said she had to lay off all her employees until their physical return to the salon.

Then, after two long months, on June 1, 2020, the state allowed salons to reopen. 

“I think that we were all apprehensive,” Healy said. “I don’t think that we came back without anxiety or nerves, but at that point there had been other states that were open that kind of proved the effectiveness of all these methods.”

Even after opening, however, business for Healy’s salon was not the same. 

According to Yelp, the beauty industry saw a 22% increase in closures, which totaled 16,585 businesses. Of those businesses it was found that around 7,000 of the closures were permanent.

“We certainly did not have the full return of our clientele in June, in fact we still don’t have our full return of our clientele,” Healy said. 

Healy didn’t apply for the first round of PPP loans in time, she said, which forced her to rely on her personal savings to keep the doors open.

Now, nearly a year after the pandemic hit the United States, Healy can finally say business is starting to look up.

The federal government initiated a second round of PPP loans in August 2020 and Healy applied. Once approved, she knew she would use the funds to help with the extra expenses that the pandemic has forced her to spend money on.

“Our expenses are way off from what they were because of all the additional sanitation and stuff,” said Healy.  

The local businesses may not look the same, but they survived and Healy is feeling better. 

“I would say that even just within the past couple of weeks with vaccinations being rolled out, we are finally beginning to see a true return to our pre-COVID numbers, and we are basically at the year mark.” she said.

Doran added, “I think that we will look back in this and say that it was a pivotal moment in my business where I was held to the fire and I survived, and I know that that is us.”