on with a web-based grocery marketplace that
provides home delivery.
The shop's Cheese-of-the-Month Club has
boomed during the pandemic, with no promotion.
In the past, people purchased club membership as
a one-time gift for others, says Bair. Now, they are
buying it for themselves and renewing.
At the five-year-old Mullahy's in Hudson,
Massachusetts, proprietor Katie Quinn has found
that collaborating with other merchants has helped
her keep the doors open. For Mother's Day, Quinn
partnered with six other women-owned businesses
in her neighborhood to curate a joint Mother's Day
box. The effort generated more than 200 orders,
and the merchants are discussing ways to repeat
that success.
Cheese and Wine
Quinn's shop does not sell
wine, so she partners with a
nearby restaurant for virtual
cheese classes. Quinn delivers
cut-and-wrapped cheese to
the restaurant for participants
to pick up, along with the
featured wine. The Zoom-
based classes often sell out
at 65 guests, who pay $80
for a pound of cheese, three
bottles of wine, crackers, and a
condiment. The lively sessions
include rounds of bingo with
gift-card prizes, and Quinn
donates $5 from each ticket
to a local charity "to keep the
community spirit."
"It reminds customers that we're still here,"
says Quinn, "and it sometimes generates orders
after the fact."
Rachel Klebaur, owner of Orrman's Cheese
Shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, says her
business took a dive when the pandemic emptied
nearby office towers. But she has replaced some
of the lost revenue by partnering with wine shops
on virtual tastings. Orrman's delivers a kit to the
wine shop with cheeses, salumi, and a baguette for
customer pickup. Klebaur is also providing cheese
to an online grocery that delivers produce from
local farms direct to consumers.
Randall Felts opened Beautiful Rind in
Chicago in April, less than a month into the
pandemic. A hybrid restaurant-retail enterprise
with an in-store classroom, the shop had to
immediately pivot to curbside pickup and virtual
classes. After attempting home delivery himself,
Felts now pays a service and passes on some,
but not all, of the cost. The shop's virtual tasting
classes for corporate clients have been even more
successful than they might have been in person.
"We built our classroom to seat 20," says Felts. "In
a virtual space, that cap is nonexistent. We usually
have 20 to 40 but we've had well over 50."
Felts and others see their COVID-19
adaptions as potentially new lines of business
in a post-pandemic world. "There are definitely
going to be people who want to minimize
being in public spaces," says Felts. "Continuing
these offerings is just another extension of
hospitality."
Mullahy's owner Katie Quinn
hosts virtual cheese classes
featuring games and prizes.
Janet Fletcher writes the email newsletter Planet Cheese
and is the author of Cheese & Wine and Cheese & Beer.
… SPECIALTY FOOD SPECIALTYFOOD.COM
CHEESE FOCUS
PHOTO ADRINNE A. PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOS MULLAHY'S
