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Week In Sound: Tri-State Reopenings
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Neil A. Carousso produced the week in sound as heard on WCBS Newsradio 880 for the week ending June 26, 2020. Hear it on the player below.
For the latest news in the New York Metropolitan Area and throughout the world, visit WCBS880.com.
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NYC Restaurants Struggle To Make Profit During Phase 2 Of Reopening
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Restaurants typically operate on thin profit margins, but establishments are getting squeezed as they struggle to serve their communities eager to eat out in phase two of New York City’s reopening.
“You need approximately somewhere between 70-75 percent capacity in order to make a small profit,” said Melba Wilson the owner of the eponymous Harlem restaurant and president of the NYC Hospitality Alliance.
Wilson told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by BNB Bank, that the industry is excited to usher in phase two this week with outdoor dining permitted curbside and on the streets on nights and weekends. But, many restaurants failed to pivot during the peak of the pandemic to food delivery and that element is key for establishments to turn a profit.
“I, personally, at Melba’s was open 14 years before I decided to do take-out and I thought take-out was just bringing another body in the restaurant in order to handle the calls and it’s an entirely separate operation,” Wilson explained, adding, “Unless it’s something that you were doing previously, I find that a lot of my counterparts found it very difficult to pivot.”
She said it’s “very grim and very difficult” for the industry as a whole, but restaurateurs should get creative in marketing their establishments, knowing that their communities want to support local businesses.
“We’ve been cross-promoting and supporting so many other businesses in the community to make sure that our community thrives and that we stay alive,” Wilson said.
Among her creative marketing initiatives at Melba’s Restaurant are T-shirts, promoting and selling her cookbook and urging customers to buy gift cards at a discount. She also told WCBS 880 owners should advertise take-out and delivery to those passing by and people prevented from eating at restaurants outside due to statewide capacity limits.
Wilson laments that many landlords have not given breaks on rent payments to local restaurants and that will drive smaller eateries out of business.
“Most of us still have to pay rent, we have to pay Con-Ed bill, we have to pay insurance,” she said of industry-wide fixed costs. “Opening for outdoor seating right now is important and will allow us to have more guests that are going to come in, order take-out, but then they have a place to socialize, to sit outside in a safe environment.”
Hear how restaurants are reinventing themselves to recover on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight Podcast on the RADIO.COM app or the media player above.
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WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast: Local Business Leaders Share Wisdom On Survival, Recovery
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Three local pioneers have made pivots to stay afloat and support their communities during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cindi Bigelow, third generation owner of Bigelow Tea, Boxcar’s Joe Colangelo and Michael Bednark of Bednark Studio shared their experiences with WCBS 880 business reporter Joe Connolly on the first-ever WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast, sponsored by Investors Bank and Spectrum Business.
“I try to pride myself on thinking ahead,” said Bigelow, who was forced to adjust her Fairfield, Connecticut factory operations and implement new safety procedures. “I found myself, really, just operating as fast as I could to try to keep up with what else we needed to do to do it right at Bigelow and for our employees. It was hard. It was a lot of work.”
Cindi said that at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, health guidance changed so rapidly that she and her executive team updated procedures multiple times a day. While sales for tea surged, other areas of her business continue to suffer and safety for her employees remains the priority.
Colangelo’s commuter parking app business plummeted 100 percent; revenue dropped to $0. The U.S. Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan was forced to pivot into a new line of business.
“Talk to your customers on the phone. Just say, ‘Hey, can I grab you for fifteen minutes? I just want to hear what your problems are,'” the Boxcar founder said of how he developed four new services in New Jersey.
Today, Colangelo’s Cranford-based company offers grocery pick-up and delivery services, car detailing, outdoor pools and shows drive-in movies, which help boost its brand awareness.
“There may be these ways that you can solve their problems that you haven’t thought of, yet,” the Naval officer turned entrepreneur said.
Michael Bednark transformed his Brooklyn Navy Yard factory from designing and manufacturing displays for clients, including Saks Fifth Avenue, to becoming an essential business by making face shields and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for New York City hospital workers. They actually beat the largest face shield manufacturer, Bauer Hockey, to market.
“I don’t want to go into a completely new business, but something that’s not that far off of an iteration of my business,” Bednark explained to Connolly and the Virtual Business Breakfast panel.
He said his mentality at the outset of the coronavirus outbreak in New York in March was focused on how he can help to “serve those people with the team and the equipment that I have.”
Bednark added a new COVID-19 product line last month by making and installing plastic dividers in ride sharing drivers’ cars to prevent the spread of the virus.
“How did you want to act during this crisis?” reflected Colangelo. “Were you out there helping people, treating your counterparties, your partners fairly? Because, you will build up the best brand and that brand will be around for 30-40 years if you treat people fairly right now.”
The entrepreneurial spirit on the panel was palpable, punctuated by the drive to serve their customers, employees and business partners in an unprecedented health and economic crisis that is fueling uncertainty and stress.
“It’s just constantly reassessing and listening more and taking all your years of experience and just keep pushing that envelope and keep pushing that bar up,” Bigelow said, adding, “No matter what, just keep trying.”
Watch the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast above to learn innovative ideas to survive and recover from the pandemic.
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Week In Sound: Phase II and the Fight for Equal Rights
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Neil A. Carousso produced the week in sound as heard on WCBS Newsradio 880 for the week ending June 19, 2020. Hear it on the player below.
For the latest news in the New York Metropolitan Area and throughout the world, visit WCBS880.com.
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‘Back to Work Does Not Mean Back to Normal’: LI Businesses Prepare For Unusual Summer Season
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — There’s cautious optimism around Long Island’s recovery as the region sits in phase two of New York State’s reopening from the coronavirus pandemic.
“We need to rebuild confidence,” said Kevin Law, president and CEO of the Long Island Association.
In an interview with Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by BNB Bank, Law said businesses can only build consumer confidence by making safety its priority.
“Complying with the new state standards of personal safety and hygiene and social distancing and masks and sanitizers and plastic shield guards – all of those things not only will protect health, I think they will begin to restore confidence,” he said.
About 300,000 people returned to work when Long Island entered phase two of reopening last week, Law told WCBS 880.
“Back to work does not mean back to normal because it still means there are going to be a lot of restrictions,” he explained, adding that occupancy limits will exist through phase three, as outlined by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Law is a member of the Governor’s New York Forward Reopening Advisory Board, which decides whether the region moves onto the next phase. He says reopening is only part of the short-term plan for businesses throughout the state. Business owners must also determine how to recover, and then, reimagine their future while the government drafts relief legislation.
“What we’re trying to focus on is some other longer-term, economic development strategies whether it’s big projects to try to accelerate or maybe tax or regulatory policies that would benefit business and encourage growth, Law said.
In the end, he believes Long Island will bounce back, but he acknowledges there are some hurtles. There has been a political divide amid the pandemic between the City and the Island as it pertains to people fleeing east to work remotely and vacation on Long Island beaches.
“The east end has always relied on New York City residents to support its real estate economy and its tourism economy in terms of restaurants and bars and hotels,” Law noted, adding, “For some now to question New York City folks coming out here, that’s sort of, I believe, quite disingenuous.”
He said vacation spots in the Hamptons and Montauk will survive if Long Island embraces City residents this summer.
“Our economies are inexplicitly linked and we shouldn’t pit one region against the other region,” Law said.
Hear more about building consumer and business confidence on the road to recovery on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight Podcast on the RADIO.COM app or on the media player above.
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