Guest Author
As a small-business owner, it’s wild to reflect on these last seven months adjusting to COVID-19 life. Like so many small businesses in Florida, we have faced significant challenges navigating the changing restrictions and constantly evolving information.
As the public health crisis began to unfold in March, we decided to close our doors for in-bar service just ahead of Florida’s official shutdown. We were fortunate in that we’re a growler bar, so to-go sales have always been a part of our business and we had a stock of single-use growlers that became the perfect vessel to shift our business into curbside and delivery sales.
While we struggled from the loss of on-premise revenue, the Tampa community continued to support us, and with the help of posting updates on our Facebook and Instagram pages, our growler sales surged by 375% in that first month. Even still, we needed additional financial support to combat changes in operations. The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program took some pressure off, allowing us to retain our full team and pay our rent for two months. And when Tampa allowed bars to reopen with restrictions in May, our customers kindly came back and supported us as we operated at 50% capacity.
Then COVID-19 cases spiked here and the Florida craft beer community started to suffer greatly. With consumers having the option to dine at any establishment with a kitchen, our to-go business dwindled significantly. We tried to apply for the Hillsborough County Rapid Response Recovery (R3) Program but were told that our decrease in revenue didn’t occur within the time frame needed to be eligible for the program. Unfortunately, the original R3 grant application did not consider the time frame of the new June restrictions that were levied on the bar industry.
By the end of July, we were hitting only 15% of our sales from the prior year. Getting creative once more, BRŪ became a licensed restaurant exclusively offering Spicy Crab Dip from another local business, Intensity Academy. This single menu item meant we could open our doors once again on August 19.
The creativity of our team, flexibility of our customers, government loans, and a bit of luck have seen us through, but there are many businesses that have not been so lucky and are still teetering on the edge of viability.
As this pandemic continues, please keep Tampa’s small businesses in mind when deciding how and where to spend your dollars. Support local businesses, buy gift cards, order takeout, “Like” their Facebook pages, and share your experiences online. These small acts of support help keep our city’s unique small businesses strong.
Additionally, I urge our elected officials to continue aiding the small business community with rent and payroll-relief programs, modifications to tax rates and licensure fees, and any other overhead expenses that businesses continue to incur while operating under restrictions.
The struggle is far from over. We’ve worked hard and will continue to do so, with your support, to keep Tampa’s vibrant small business community alive.
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Jill Brugal is co-owner of BRŪ Florida Growler Bar, Florida’s premier growler-filling bar, featuring craft beer, cider, kombucha and nitro coffee from breweries and makers around the state.
