Justin’s Story

Justin Barrett, Piecemeal Pies
White River Junction, VT

We are a small farm-to-table cafe in White River Junction and currently employ 8 employees.

A Dartmouth-Hitchcock employee tested positive for the virus, and instead of self-quarantining as instructed, they attended an event in WRJ with 170 other attendees. When this was discovered, word quickly spread and became national news.

Now, we exist in a ghost town. Last week, revenue dropped 50%. This week, we are closing early for lack of customers. 

We have a few main concerns:

• Restaurants have an optimistic industry average of 10% profit margin. And that goes back into the business to repair equipment, pay rent increases, etc. There is little cushion for the variables such public catastrophes impose.

• Without target sales, there isn't enough work for employees, and payroll begins to compete with electric bills and rent. There is immense pressure to cut hours.

• We have rent to pay, but so does our staff. What will they do if this affects their income? It is our duty to take care of the people who work with us. And as a small business, we just can't afford it on decreased revenue.

We need help. State and Federal assistance in any capacity to help make ends meet would be a huge relief and allow us to remain open while the community weathers this storm. 

Quality labor is already difficult to find in Vermont. If we cut hours, we are likely to lose members of our incredibly valuable team. 

If you buy a $50 gift certificate, we are offering another $10 gift certificate for free. It's an incentive to get some cash in the drawer so we can continue to operate. But this is hardly sustainable business.

On the plus side, we made our own hand sanitizer out of high proof alcohol, lemon oil, and aloe vera. It smells incredible and every now and then, someone comes in just because they heard about it!