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Due to the Covid-19 shutdown, many businesses have had to rearrange their way they serve their customers. One local business, The Brew in Tyrone, has been affected in multiple ways by the pandemic. 

One of the things that The Brew has noticed is that daily traffic has slowed down, and they no longer have the early morning crowd that would stop on their way to work, since many folks are no longer going to work.  They also have closed their taproom and their house dining area, changed the menu and procedures, and reduced the staff. 

The Brew still follow its routine cleaning and sanitizing procedures.  The coffee shop also continues to monitor the CDC and Department of Health updates each day. 

As soon as The Brew found out how serious Covid-19 was, its owners immediately ordered disposable cups for beer, wine, and food.  Once The Brew had to go to the mandated, “to-go services,” they were prepared.  

“I think our biggest struggle has been not being able to provide that ‘gathering place’ for people to come and catch up! We miss having those people in the shop and the routines we all had!” said Shannon Rice, owner of The Brew. 

As far as staffing, The Brew has a few employees working with reduced hours.  They consider staff family and they have been handling the whole situation very well. 

Although The Brew has been negatively affected by Covid-19, the shop has also seen a lot of positivity come from this.  Not only does support come from the local area, but people from all over the country.  People have called in to buy merchandise, gift cards, and retail coffee bags among other items. 

The Brew has also had a lot of customers call in to just donate to the shop.  Because of so many generous people, this has led it to their “Pay it Forward” board.  The Brew has donated over 160 free drinks for first-responders such as nurses, doctors, and police officers.  In addition, they’ve also had countless drinks bought for family, friends, and teachers.  Those names are written on a chalkboard and people can come in to redeem their drinks. 

“We are all excited to get back to normal, and in the meantime we are so grateful for all of our customers and staff during these challenging times.  People choose to come to The Brew,” said owner Rob Poust. “They may not be working but still choose to spend their hard earned money supporting us, and we will never be able to say ‘Thank you’ enough to them! Much love!”