Reopening, Safety Protocol and Cleaner Air...
Reverie reopened for limited dine-in seating on March 1st, 2021, after being carry-out only for several months.
How we got to this point…
On March 16, 2020, exactly 350 days ago, I was sitting across the conference table from my business partner as we did each week, discussing the normal stuff. Finances, coffee sales, staff considerations and issues we are always looking to resolve. It was as routine of a weekly check-in as we ever have had. The last topic on the table was a simple open-ended question: What would happen if we lost 75% of our customers overnight? This was the first time I was forced to think about what was becoming a reality for our nation.
Within three days I had created an extensive questionnaire for my leadership team to examine. The purpose of these tough questions was to gauge the depth of our own understanding of what was possible in a time of uncertainty. It intentionally prodded at our inexperience in dealing with an problem of this magnitude. COVID-19 was not yet officially identified in Kansas and we had not even considered for a minute that it could shutter our business.
We took this opportunity to create a plan for how to carefully protect our business and the staff we had grown to 32 employees. We realized there would be an undoing of our operations, so our approach needed to be hyper-focused on preservation. The plan came together as rapidly as the information was coming at our community. Exactly 19 days after we completed our own internal survey, we shut the doors at our café for the first time.
Fast forward half a year, we shut or doors again after being open for seating for about a month because the community was simply not getting better. COVID-19 numbers topped at levels so high, Kansas was identified as one of the hottest of hot spots for catching Coronavirus. Way to go, gang!
Shifting back to a carryout only model was our next move. Slowing the spread of the virus needed to be priority, and we collectively decided that we could do our part by minimizing the exposure within our spaces. And the only way to reopen would be if the data shifted dramatically, indicating a healthier community. And that brings us to today. March 1st, 2021, 323 days after we first shut down. We are happy to report the community spread is solidly declining and we are comfortable reopening with some rules.
Customer compact…
When you choose to revisit Reverie, we want you to know how we expect customers and staff to take in our new protocol. The point of compliance is to keep everyone as safe as possible. And it is not like we are asking anyone to do more than they already expect to during a pandemic. But to keep it clear and simple, here are a few things we ask of you while you enjoy your time with us.
Masks are to be worn at all times you are not eating or drinking.
Remain 6-feet socially distanced from other guests at all times.
Groups are limited to 4-people max.
Tables are to remain where they are placed. Do not move them.
Limit your time to 60 minutes or less.
Our team is trained to assist you with understanding these basic rules. I would not be surprised if they kindly remind you of this from time to time. It’s not because they are cranky; it’s because they really want to safely be open and to remain open. Their livelihoods depend on being staying healthy and being open. So, the responsibility falls on everyone who enters our spaces.
The weather is improving, therefore the café patio is looking a bit more enticing. We’ve even added a few tables to our sidewalk to allow for a bit of extra sunlight!
Masks and distancing protect everyone. There is really no room to argue this. Keeping your group size down is helpful to reduce the spread of the virus to more people, but it is also a function of our limited seating availability. We have smallish tables, and less than 50% of the table seating from pre-COVID. Our seats are set to maximize efficiencies in our space for both our staff and for the guests who may wish to use our café. And the time spent in one space is a factor in the spread of COVID-19. We recommend keeping your meetings and coffee breaks to about an hour for both safety AND to allow others to enjoy the use of our coffee shop. Limited seating assures that we may run into a traffic jam seats, so it would be considerate to the other customers and our business if you could help us turn the tables over. [If you ever wanted to dive into a conversation about the economics of chilling in the coffee shop for hours, hit me up.]
Don’t forget to take advantage of our patio(s). If you are not feeling like coming inside, we still have ample outdoor seating. You can place orders on our website; we’ve placed QR codes near our doors to make it simple to place an order. We’ll even run it out to you.
Reverie compact…
Masks are worn at all times
Keeping distance as often as possible, limiting time with each other
Enhanced handwashing and café sanitization protocol
Staff COVID testing one or two times per week
Safer workspaces help to reduce the risk of spreading this dumb disease. I’m proud to promote that my team has really been the example for safety during this pandemic, continually keeping their guard up. The results have been most impressive. We are masked at all times. We’ve enhanced our sanitization protocol and have consistently been COVID testing our staff one to two times each week with the help of the Wichita State University Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (MDL) for several months now with no intention of stopping.
If it isn’t in the air, it isn’t in your lungs…
Improved MERV 13 HVAC air filters
Increased Air Exchange Rate (ACH) with HEPA air purifiers under our bars
Ionization generator purification in HVAC system
Air quality in our café may be too good…I mean, what we do to scrub the air is also likely taking the amazing smell of freshly brewed coffee and baked pastries out of the air. But I can assure you that we are going above and beyond the minimum to make your experience as safe as possible. Our HVAC system has been upgraded to include MERV-13 air filters, which are capable of scrubbing greater than 85% of the microscopic air contaminants, including viruses such as COVID-19. We’ve added portable air purification units to our café and workspaces to increase the Air Exchange Rate (ACH) in our spaces. HEPA air purifiers can scrub up to 99.9% of all particles in the air leaving nearly pure air for everyone to breathe. And our latest enhancement are self-cleaning, bi-polar ionization generators for each of our 4 HVAC systems. These units emit positive and negative ions, which actively purifies the air in our system, killing bacteria, viruses and mold that may be active throughout our café. Super nerdy stuff. [Links at the end for more info]
In summary…
Have we gone overboard with our safety protocol? Nope. We do not think so. In fact, in the spirit of our niche statement [To better coffee.], we feel that we can continue to do better in all we do, be it coffee or safety in the workplace. But today, you can feel comfort knowing we have done our best to create the safest environment for our staff and customers to enjoy coffee indoors as we balance the need to bring our business a little closer to standing on its own two legs. Playing it safe and making smart decisions is how we will get there. And we are ready for you to rejoin us!
Thank you for taking time to understand how we came to make our decisions. And thank you for respecting our safety protocol in our café. Please feel free to share this information with other businesses who may be looking for ways to enhance the safety in the workplace. These resources I’ve provided are intended to help get the word our for how we can all provide safe environments for our staff and customers. And as always, you may hit me up through our website if you need any references to get this done.
See you in the café sometime soon. We look forward to seeing you in the café!
Andrew Gough
Owner/Founder
Resources:
The Specialty Coffee Association “The Science of COVID-19 Safety for Coffee Businesses [YouTube]