IN N O V A T E
OR LIQUIDATE
Prince Street Pizza and Pub converted their dining room into a pizza box assembly factory.
There’s nothing like a pandemic to reveal the strengths (or weaknesses) of a business model.
W
hen the shelter-in-place mandates came down, many Gallatin businesses owners were forced to do a hard pivot. How do you keep your doors open when no one is coming through those doors? How do you adapt? Gallatin Area Chamber of Commerce business-owner e ers can ans er that uesti n u n ut f the ways of delivering your product or service. Or, you reimagine it altogether. In this article, we honor the innovation, the grit, the perseverance, and the guts demonstrated by Gallatin Area Chamber of Commerce members when faced with a tough situation: innovate or liquidate. They amazed us with their creativity, and we think you’ll be amazed, too.
R e s t a u r a n t s P iv o t t o
C a r r y - O u t
Most of Gallatin’s restaurants took a hit in March and April urin the rst fe ee s f the c r na irus re ate shut n But then, something interesting happened. Some businesses i n t ust sur i e as the ure ut h t na i ate the ne normal. They thrived far beyond anyone’s expectations. Take Prince Street Pizza and Pub, for instance. With their dining room closed, Prince Street reinvented itself as a carry-out22
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only business. The owners worked out a system to minimize contact during the pizza pickup process, including delivery to cars, payments taken over the phone, and limiting the number of people inside the store. Sales dipped momentarily and then soared. Staff members who had volunteered to take unemployment were quickly recalled as the to-go orders rolled in. When the state allowed restaurants to reopen at limited capacity, Prince Street Pizza and Pub’s dining room remained closed; their dining room had been repurposed as a pizza box assembly factory. Starr Ranch is another good example. With their dining room forced to shutter, they shifted to carry-out orders and began serving food out their front window. Their large dining rooms became staging areas for pickup orders, and the large windows facing the street became billboards. Employees wrote, “Call in t r ers in u rescent ar ers n the in s an business took off. Order pickup happened at the window, with customers ringing a bell to alert the staff they were there. The dining room remained a to-go order staging area for many weeks after the stay-at-home orders were lifted. The inn ati n i n t st there hic a e t ent parking spots for curbside pickup, doubled the size of their drive-through line, and added an overhang for order-takers.
