FEATURE
WWW.BENDSOURCE.COM / MAY 28, 2020 / BEND’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
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The Glass is Half Empty
Darris Hurst
Restaurants cannot survive on 50% of previous revenues for long. Demand for food delivery and the challenges of rehiring add insult to injury By Laurel Brauns
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estaurants have faced some of the most devastating challenges since the coronavirus hit: Gov. Kate Brown closed down table service altogether, and now that it’s back and in Phase One, restaurants have to adhere to strict regulations. On top of that, they must now try to lure their employees back—many of whom have grown content on the livable wage provided by unemployment insurance. Karli Foster opened Café Yumm in the Old Mill District 14 years ago and survived through the Great Recession, eventually expanding operations to a new restaurant near St. Charles Bend off NE Cushing Drive.
“I love serving customers,” she said. “To walk into empty restaurants for the last five weeks was depressing, a very different energy; it’s been very challenging.” She closed down both stores completely on March 29, but kept in close touch with her employees. About two weeks before her reopen date, she invited her staff back to work. Only 11 out of 30 employees wanted to return, even though they were given the choice of schedule and hours. The problem? Over half of employees in the U.S. are making more on unemployment insurance right now than they made at their job. Due to a provision in the federal government’s CARES Act,
they receive an additional $600 a week on top of their UI benefit. Coincidentally, Foster set up an in-house online ordering system and signed a contract with the third-party delivery service, Grubhub, right before the coronavirus hit. Grubhub charges both customers and the restaurant itself for each item ordered. “People were asking for [a delivery option], especially during coronavirus when people don’t want to leave their houses,” she said. “We do contactless service with our own curbside delivery, so I hope people will take advantage of that if they don’t want to pay the higher prices.”
Café Yumm in the Old Mill District has closed down all indoor table service, but customers are welcome to sit outside on the patio. Owner Karli Foster has spaced the tables 10 feet apart for social distancing.
Everyone Needs a New Sign
Nicole Vulcan
Delivery options and other COVID-era announcements help buoy sign makers’ bottom lines By Nicole Vulcan
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o anywhere these days and you’re sure to see a few new signs: “We’re Open!” or “Now with Delivery!” signs abound—whether hand-drawn with fat Sharpies or ordered special from local sign makers. When things change, businesses need new ways to share that info—so we asked local sign makers whether that’s resulting in an uptick in business. Turns out, all the new signs are, at the very least, helping them stay afloat. “We’ve seen an increase for COVID signs and social distancing signs, but a lot of my business is reliant on concerts and events—so we definitely were down in the last few months,” said Michelle Richwine of 1 Day Signs in Bend. “But we’ve been able to keep making signs for these businesses that are doing takeout and banners and
things like that… and A-frames for their sidewalks.” “It’s hard to say how many more signs we’re making now,” said a representative from the local company Bend Signs. “It just seems like everything kind of changed. It was one thing, then it changed to a completely different type; people were needing floor graphics and clear plastic for spit shields, it was just different. “ Richwine said the new signs have been “all over the board,” from new floor decals to specialty items, such as QR codes included on outdoor signs, that make ordering outside a restaurant easier. “Doing the COVID signage has helped offset [other parts of our business] for sure,” she said. -Intern Miina McCown contributed to this report.
As retailers continue to grapple with the pandemic, new signs are popping up.
