A pandemic and nonessential business status is not the way Carol “Orange” Schroeder planned to spend the 45th anniversary of her store, Orange Tree Imports, but as the big day (May 1) approaches, the chair of the Monroe Street Merchants Association was more concerned about her fellow retailers. Interviewed on April 21, she discussed how operations have changed, some of the steps she’s taken to hang in there, how retail neighbors are pitching in to help, and the relaunch of curbside pickup.
How has this situation affected your business operation so far?
“Well, we’ve now been closed for a month and during the five days before we closed, we did local delivery and curbside pickup, but we laid off our entire staff. They are all on unemployment, and so it’s just [husband and co-owner] Dean and me. We’ve been keeping the fires burning there because we have to take care of paying bills and keeping in touch with our staff and our suppliers. We’ve been receiving shipments here at the house, so things are going along in a very unusual way.
“On May 1, in honor of the store’s 45th anniversary, we are going to start doing curbside pickup of items featured on our website Tuesday–Saturday. This will not be the entire range of our store’s inventory by any means, but we are soliciting suggestions from customers as to what they’d like to see featured. DesignCraft is working on expanding our online capabilities by early next week, so this is a work in progress. We hope to add personal shopping and local delivery sometime in May.
“We think that the curbside pickup option will continue to be of interest to customers during the reopening period, whenever that may be. But at that time, it will morph into buy online, pick up in store — perfect for customers who know what they want and who don’t want to spend a lot of time browsing. We look forward very much to the day when shoppers will want to have an enjoyable and relaxed in-store experience. Before we reopen, we’ll have the store professionally cleaned and will take whatever safety precautions are recommended for a shop our size.
| “There is also worry that there could be a second spike. For us, being closed in March and April and even May is unfortunate but being closed in December would be much more of a catastrophe.” |
“During the month of April, we were very fortunate that Mystery to Me bookstore on Monroe Street took 48 of our jigsaw puzzles and has sold them. Neuhauser Pharmacy took some of our Easter candy and sold it for us. Brasserie V did an Easter basket option with their meal kits one weekend, and we sold 67 bags of Easter toys and gifts to go out with their meal kits. We’re planning on doing that again on Mother’s Day with them, and this time we’re also going to include a four-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer made by Wisconsin Candle Co., which is one of our vendors.
“So, we have merchandise going out in that way. The other thing is that some of our suppliers are offering to drop-ship, so on our website we have the option of people ordering things through us and then we send the order to the company and the company ships the merchandise. Some of our other vendors have very generously given us a code so that if someone orders directly from Zwilling, for instance, we get a percentage of the sale.
“Our website only had about two items that we are actually sending out, basically from the house, but all the rest of the items were being sent by our suppliers. We’re just not really set up to ship, but one of the things I’ve offered on the website is that people can order a custom assortment of greeting cards and I’ll go over and pick them out personally and mail them because we realize that people need sympathy cards, they need birthday cards, they need Mother’s Day cards, and they are not very easy to get, even online. But it’s a service that I enjoy providing.”
Were you able to secure a Paycheck Protection Program loan to help keep things going until you reopen?
“We received the PPP loan that was offered to small businesses but are very concerned about the requirement that we rehire all our staff during a time that we are also mandated to be closed. The only reason that we can offer the curbside pickup, which will actually take place on the store’s back porch, is that two of our part-time employees are not eligible for unemployment, so they’re interested in working a few hours. The rest of our staff would just be transferred from unemployment to our payroll without having work to do, which doesn’t really help us get back on our feet.
“However, we plan on using it [the PPP loan] to cover the health insurance that we provide to our full-time employees and also some of the associated expenses that we’re allowed to use it for. But it’s really too bad that it doesn’t help you once you are open because we want to retain the employees, but it’s just not logical when they are already on unemployment to take them off unemployment and use this money for that. So, it’s state money versus federal money. With the boost to the unemployment [fund], we feel they are well taken care of, so we don’t want them to leave their homes, which is not a good idea anyway, and come to the store, which is not allowed to be fully open. It’s unfortunately not a well-thought-out program, or maybe at the time they set it up, they didn’t know how long the shelter at home was going to go on.”
They keep moving the goalposts.
“Exactly, but what I will say is that Orange Tree Imports has been very fortunate that we’ve been in business long enough that we don’t have any debt and we own our building, so we are in an enviable position as a retail store to be able to weather this storm. I’m much more worried about some of my Monroe Street neighbors who might have just gone into business or have more debt than we have. It’s going to be much tougher for them.
“One of the things we’ve done on Monroe Street is we have a mask project going. We’ve been offering cloth masks with a small percentage of the sale going to helping promote Monroe Street once the pandemic has subsided. Neuhauser Pharmacy is selling them, and also some of the businesses that do takeout and delivery have been offering them as an add-on option.”
So, you’re pitching in as an association. You really have to try a lot of things to make it through this in decent shape.
“Yes, and it’s not as if we can tell everybody to support our businesses by doing takeout food because there are a limited number of businesses doing that. A number of our retail stores are going heavily into shipping and curbside pickup. The ruling is a little vague as to whether it’s fine to do that if you’re a nonessential business as long as it’s only you, as the owner, in the store.”
How is it likely to affect your business in the future? What happens when you bring employees back?
“Well, for our employees, we’ve been in touch with everyone and they are all planning on coming back, but the big question in my mind is what is that going to look like? Are we going to only be allowed to have a certain number of customers in the store at a time? Are we going to need plexiglass shields? Will we need to have face masks? Obviously, the basics of cleaning the store and having hand sanitizer — we’ve got that covered. But the bigger question is what will retail be like when we’re easing back into being reopened? There is also worry that there could be a second [COVID-19] spike. For us, being closed in March and April and even May is unfortunate but being closed in December would be much more of a catastrophe.”
Will you have to ask your customers to wear masks in the store?
“Oh, I have no idea. Neuhauser Pharmacy has a policy where people have to wear masks to come in. I know that Trader Joe’s employees are now wearing masks, but I can’t imagine in the long run that 100 percent of our population is going to wear masks all the time, but I don’t know. If that’s what’s needed, we’ll do it.”
How about social distancing?
| “The one business this has really benefited [from shelter-at-home] is Amazon, and it’s not as if we needed to send more people to Amazon to shop.” |
“I don’t know. Even now, when I go to Neuhauser, there is money passing hands, so obviously we’re not six feet apart. We’re not throwing it at each other. That’s pretty much like my outings to our store, where I’m the only person there, and since I’m shipping things to customers like the greeting cards, I do stop at the pharmacy and get stamps and such. They’ve got barriers built and they’ve got a lot of social distancing, but it’s funny. You walk into Neuhauser Pharmacy and if there is somebody else in there already, do you hold your breath and walk past them and hide in some other part of the pharmacy? There aren’t that many six-foot distances in a small place.”
Could you configure plastic shields at checkout points?
“If we had to do that, we could probably do that. We have three cash registers and we probably would only do that at one in the hope that it’s a temporary situation. But if we have to do that, we will do that because we definitely want to reopen, but that also limits the number of employees that can wait on customers because they would have to be six feet away from each other. It’s going to be a complicated situation.”
Are there other ways the pandemic could affect your business in the future?
“Well, the one business this has really benefitted is Amazon, and it’s not as if we needed to send more people to Amazon to shop. So, given the fact that even more people are shopping online that used to shop online, I hope the shop-local mentality is able to have a resurgence in Madison. That’s something that’s always been an alternative to shopping online — to come into the store to have an enjoyable experience. How do we make it an enjoyable experience if people are nervous about being out of their homes? So, that’s going to be a challenge. We can make it safe and we can make it comfortable, but can we make it fun?
“We are definitely selling gift cards and people have been very kind about doing that. My thought is that we might do a celebration in the future that includes doing a sale or discount, but I’m really encouraging the [Monroe Street] businesses to not offer a discount on a gift card because people buying a gift card now are expressing the hope and belief that you’re going to reopen and they want to help you. They are not looking for a sale. They are not looking for a bargain. When you open, maybe they will be, but the gift card thing has been very helpful for a lot of businesses.
“The big question in my mind is how do we face the recovery period? What’s that going to look like? How can we help businesses get through that?”
Besides the Amazon effect taking further hold, is there anything industry wide that you’re concerned about?
“One concern is the overall economy. When people have been out of work for a couple of months, do they feel like going shopping or eating out? That’s going to be a big concern. Are we heading for at least a recession if not a depression?”
Consumers could be waiting to bust out due to the pent-up demand.
“Yes, and it’s interesting to hear what people are asking me about what they can buy from us. Right now, they are looking for bread-making supplies. That’s a big one, and so are coffee-making things because they are not running out to Starbucks or the local coffee shop all the time. There will be some pent-up demand, obviously, with wedding gifts because a lot of weddings have been delayed or postponed, and with baby gifts to acknowledge babies have arrived while this was happening. So, we know there are definitely products that people want to buy from us, and that’s one reason we have things online at the moment through our suppliers. If somebody really needs a wedding gift or wants to buy a box of greeting cards or some jewelry, we do have those options that will be sent out from our suppliers. So, we feel that even though we aren’t open for business, we are in business and can help people with some of their needs right away.”
Is this fodder for a fifth edition of Specialty Shop Retailing?
“Definitely not. That’s been an interesting and rather sobering journey. The fourth edition of the book has really had a hard time finding its market. Last week, we announced on social media that we would give away 50 copies of the book if people just paid the $5 shipping fee, and I haven’t given away all 50 yet. So, I’m definitely not planning to write another one.
“Our original publishing house [for the first three editions] is one of New York’s major publishing houses and of course a lot has changed in publishing. They basically said there is no way we’re going forward with another book on retailing. I had an agent who shopped it around to other major publishers and nobody was interested in a book on retailing because even before this [pandemic] happened, retailing has been in a challenged state. Maybe they knew something I didn’t know, but I really felt I needed to do one more and probably last edition. Also part of it is that I’m in touch with retailers on a much more immediate basis on my blog and through the articles that I write, so maybe a book as a medium is not as pertinent. Also, there are not that many people going into retailing, which was always a big part of the market. I’ve had to live with that disappointment, but it is what it is.”
I would have thought that it would have gained some traction with the new details in the fourth edition about ecommerce and social media.
“Yes, I covered a lot of stuff, but I don’t cover pandemics.”
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