Morristown Wellness, Yoga Center Back After Over A Year Closed

MORRISTOWN, NJ — It was one of those interactions that would've been routine before life changed. Someone stepped into BeWell in Morristown to sit down and talk to owner Marisa Sweeney about nutrition.

BeWell Integrated Health Services shut its doors St. Patrick's Day of 2020 — days before New Jersey's coronavirus lockdown. While many businesses had to jump at the first opportunity once state officials allowed them to reopen, BeWell took a different route. The wellness center and yoga studio kept things shut until Saturday.

"Our nutrition team hadn’t seen a single patient in person," Sweeney told Patch on Monday. "I just saw my first one today. It was kind of wild."

BeWell may represent a rare business success story for the pandemic, especially among those that offer fitness services. The Bank Street establishment could have reopened most of their in-person services by Sept. 1, when Gov. Phil Murphy allowed fitness centers to begin operating in a limited capacity.

Instead, BeWell erred on the side of extreme caution. Not all businesses or industries could've done it, but several factors helped BeWell reopen major on-site services after more than a year. A transition to virtual services, dedicated employees and longtime customer base eased the process, Sweeney says.

Shifting the Business

Through the pandemic, BeWell's staff held monthly meetings to discuss whether it was time to reopen. But as a wellness center of registered health professionals, they didn't want to rush the effort and potentially leave someone in harm's way, Sweeney says.

"We’re a health and wellness center, so a lot of people that come in through our doors are immunocompromised," Sweeney said. " ... We finally reached a place where it seems safe enough. There hasn’t been a great urgency for us to even want to chance anybody potentially getting sick by coming through our doors."

Some services that require in-person interaction, such as acupuncture and massage, lagged because of closures. But most of BeWell's offerings made a natural transition to online interaction, including yoga instruction and nutrition counseling.

But finally, the time felt right to reopen because of local and statewide progress in fighting COVID-19. The New Jersey Department of Health downgraded the state from "high" to "moderate" coronavirus risk in Thursday's weekly activity report. State officials deemed Morris County's transmission rate as "moderate" for the first time in months.

BeWell based its main hub in Morristown, but it has 13 satellite offices in the tri-state area. During the year-plus of closures, Sweeney says they haven't had to furlough any employees.

Some work full-time for BeWell, while others rent their space. Even those who rent space stayed with the company — except for one employee, who received another offer too good to pass up, Sweeney said.

A combination of valued employees and loyal customers created a recipe for the 8-year business's pandemic success story.

"Had we been a new business, I’m not sure how we would have fared through this whole thing," Sweeney said. "We’re pretty established, and we have a good foundation of people who have been with us for a long time."

Morristown Opening Up

New Jersey's case rate remains above most of the nation — 13th among states with a seven-day case rate of 125.2 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But the Garden State's reductions in key factors such as new cases and hospitalizations prompted Murphy to ease restrictions for the upcoming weeks. Read more: NJ To End Most Capacity Restrictions May 19

At the same time, several Morristown businesses have announced further reopenings. For instance, South Street Yoga and Nutrition will begin phasing out Zoom options in August and operate 100 percent in-person by September. Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen will reopen The Vail Mansion toward the end of May.

Greater Morristown businesses taking steps toward reopening — or struggling with obstacles of the pandemic — can contact josh.bakan@patch.com. Morristown Patch may write about your business or feature it in a roundup.