Coronavirus Braintree: Small Businesses Struggle To Stay Afloat

BRAINTREE, MA — Braintree is a town that thrives on its small businesses. There are 114 businesses registered with the town's Chamber of Commerce, and many of them are hurting as the spread of the new coronavirus closes salons, stores and forces dine-in restaurants to shift to take-out and delivery only establishments.

Matt Kielty, owner of the Southside Tavern, told Patch just breaking even over the next three weeks would be a great success. Kielty is trying to keep the tavern afloat by opening up the catering menu to families, applying for grants and having front of house staff do jobs like bagging food and making deliveries.

"I'm trying to keep as many of my employees employeed, and we're delivering food wherever we can at this point, even outside of Braintree ...," Kielty said. "The response of my staff has been unbelievable. It shows they are just as invested in us as they are in them."

Kielty said the community response has been great so far. Although the restuarant is making a fraction of what is was before, people have rallied around the tavern by buying gift cards, scheduling catering for future events and sharing their posts on social media.

He said he loves seeing the community rallying around him and other local businesses because everyone is in this together right now.

"For people to spend their disposable income when that is decreasing as well, that shows solidarity in the community," Kielty said. "The appreciation is beyond words."

Outside of restaurants, Braintree businesses in the beauty industry are also feeling the impact of COVID-19. Glow specializes in skin rejuvenation, acne clearance and hair removal. Like many other salons, owner Shelly North has had to close shop.

Before the outbreak of COVID-19, Glow was busy enough to staff 20 employees. Still phones, would be off the hooks, and customers couldn't get an appointment unless it was at least three weeks in advance.

North said her customers have supported her by shopping online for gift cards and beauty products, but she's struggling to pay for rent, inventory and other bills. She was on the phone with her credit card company for four-and-a-half hours, getting bounced around by different managers, until she could get a temporary stop on her interest payments until May.

North has also had to lay off a lot of staff, many who get paid from commission and their tips.

"The most responsible thing to do is have them go on a temporary layoff and collect unemployment because they'd at least make more money than if they put in for sick time or something like that."

North said the best way to support her staff is for customers to book future appointments. She said customers can schedule them out for three or more weeks, so the staff have work to come back to. But if that's something customers can't afford to right now, Norse said she definitely understands.

"If you can’t afford it, send us a message," North said. "Say 'Hi, how are you?' We have relationships with these clients ... Stay healthy, stay put. At the end of the day, health is all we have. I have gone through stressful times. I'm a breast cancer survivor. I get it. When things get back to the quote on quote normal, we will be really happy to see you again."