COVID-19

Pawn Shop Switches To Appointment Only Amid Rise In Demand For Pre-owned Jewels

Pawn Shop Switches To Appointment Only Amid Rise In Demand For Pre-owned Jewels

At the very beginning of March 2020, when there were relatively few cases of coronavirus in the Granite State, Roger Weinreich, president of Good Fortune Jewelry & Pawn in Keene, caught the virus. That, coupled with his conversations with business contacts in Asia, prompted Weinreich to shut down his shop even before the governor issued a stay at home order. Weinreich hoped he could lead by example and help the U.S. get ahead of the pandemic.

“We optimistically thought, ‘let’s shut down for 60 days,’” Weinreich said.

He urged others in his region and his industry to do the same, but it soon became clear that the impacts of the pandemic would last much longer than two months.

Keene‌ ‌State‌ ‌Spends‌ ‌$5‌ ‌Million‌ ‌On‌ ‌Testing‌ ‌To‌ ‌Keep‌ ‌Students‌ ‌On‌ ‌Campus

Keene‌ ‌State‌ ‌Spends‌ ‌$5‌ ‌Million‌ ‌On‌ ‌Testing‌ ‌To‌ ‌Keep‌ ‌Students‌ ‌On‌ ‌Campus

In the fall of 2020, when many schools and colleges were opting to go remote, Keene State decided to try to safely bring students back to campus. The initiative — which includes frequent testing of students and staff, monitoring of local waste water, and a 24/7 rapid response team — has cost the school nearly $5 million, but pending any major changes it will enable Keene to keep students on campus and in classrooms until the spring semester ends on May 28.

‌Collaboration‌ ‌Helps‌ ‌Restaurant‌ ‌Survive‌ ‌COVID‌ ‌Winter‌

‌Collaboration‌ ‌Helps‌ ‌Restaurant‌ ‌Survive‌ ‌COVID‌ ‌Winter‌

When Danya Landis and her business partners opened Machina Kitchen and Art Bar, a farm-to-table restaurant and artistic space in Keene, they went in aware of the risk they were taking.

“As industries go, the restaurant industry is not an easy one to get into,” Landis said. “It was definitely something that was going to be a learning curve in the first place.”

Despite that, they thought that they could make it work. Landis and her business partner Rebecca Hamilton had already been running events in the greater Keene area. When they crossed paths with Jordan Scott, their third active business partner, they saw how they could build a space dedicated to connecting people through art and food.

ConvenientMD Responds To COVID, While Looking Ahead

ConvenientMD Responds To COVID, While Looking Ahead

At the beginning of 2020, ConvenientMD was looking toward expansion. The Portsmouth-based company had plans to open multiple new locations, and continue to offer more intensive services that are usually reserved for hospitals, like infusions for patients with long-term conditions like multiple sclerosis or arthritis. The company was also preparing to launch a telehealth platform, but more for balancing loads between locations than for delivering care to patients directly.

However, the leadership of the company, including Co-founder and Executive Chairman Gareth Dickens, was also monitoring the coronavirus emerging in China. Before the virus was declared a pandemic, Dickens and his team could see what was coming, and began stocking up on personal protective equipment. Soon, a conference room at the company’s Portsmouth headquarters was transformed into a PPE holding space.

Hanover Bookstore and Bar Relies On Book Sales to Get Through

Hanover Bookstore and Bar Relies On Book Sales to Get Through

With so many facets to the business, Still North wasn’t fully opened and operational until February. For a month, business was going great. Levy had hoped that eventually books and other merchandise would make up half of revenue, with food and beverage making up the other half. She thought that food and beverage sales would be stronger to start, but was pleasantly surprised to be just about 50/50 during that first month.

“Book sales have always been stronger than I envisioned,” she said. “I underestimated how much people want to make sure that there’s an independent bookstore in Hanover.”

That would become essential when the pandemic shut down Still North in March. Levy hadn’t planned to focus on a website until the second year of the business, but she quickly created one to fulfill and ship orders. With time, Still North reopened for browsing by appointment, and later for drop-in browsing.

Alton Shop Pivots From Vintage Sales, Focusing On Handmade Goods

Alton Shop Pivots From Vintage Sales, Focusing On Handmade Goods

At first, Catchpenny had a warm welcome from locals and tourists alike. But as soon as reports of the coronavirus began circulating — even before the state shut down — Terravechia noticed that people were less willing to buy vintage or used goods.

“People were getting nervous,” she said. “There’s only so much you can know about an item, and the virus was so new.”

Before that, vintage items made up about half of sales at Catchpenny. Suddenly, that revenue stream all but disappeared. The whole environment at the store, which invited customers to have a hands-on shopping experience, seemed at odds with the pandemic.

Sports Supplement Company Switches From In Person Marketing to Mailed Samples

Sports Supplement Company Switches From In Person Marketing to Mailed Samples

At the beginning of the year, Jack Schrupp was finally ready to launch his sports supplement business. He’d been perfecting his recipe since he was a two-sport athlete at Williams College, searching for a post-workout protein powder that had ingredients he could actually pronounce. After years of sampling products for friends and teammates, and later arranging a supply chain, Schrupp was ready to bring Drink Wholesome into the world. He had no idea how bad the timing was.

‌Community‌ ‌Health‌ ‌Organization‌ ‌Establishes‌ ‌Learning‌ ‌Center

‌Community‌ ‌Health‌ ‌Organization‌ ‌Establishes‌ ‌Learning‌ ‌Center

When the pandemic hit, Greater Seacoast Community Heath needed to move quickly. The organization runs three clinics in Portsmouth, Somersworth and Rochester, as well as recovery centers in Rochester, Dover and Portsmouth, serving up to 7,400 people a month. Faced with coronavirus, the organization took the same steps as many others: switching to telehealth and adopting new protocols to keep staff safe.

“It caught us off guard, but we quickly recovered,” said Janet Laatsch, CEO of Greater Seacoast Community Health. “We’ve had to really adapt and be very agile, and at the same time take care of patients and staff.”

A Touch of Sweetness

A Touch of Sweetness

Tracy Gunn is no stranger to difficulties in business. She started her candy store — Life Is Sweet — in downtown Keene 14 years ago. But for the past four years business has steadily declined, about 10% per year, something Gunn attributes to the Keene riots.

“Our tourism kind of has dried up,” Gunn said.

The pandemic was another blow. The main draw at Life Is Sweet is the old fashioned candy counter. People come in, don a glove, and put their hands into jars of candy, selecting the exact type and amount to satisfy their sweet tooth. Gunn estimates that under normal circumstances, 90% of customers who visit Life Is Sweet make an individualized bag of candy.