A Year Into Pandemic, CT Businesses Still Riding Roller Coaster

CONNECTICUT — The past 12 months have been as unique a period as any in the history of Connecticut business. That's right, the coronavirus pandemic first reared its ugly head about a year ago.

It's been both a financial and emotional roller coaster for businesses both great and small, national and local. Terms like hand sanitizer, mandatory masks and partitions and limited capacity became synonymous with terms like cash and charge and reservations and appointments.

One Chinese restaurant in northern Connecticut went to an extreme with a protective film all over the place.

The pandemic spared no food establishment, from the iconic to the new. The famed Rein's Deli in Vernon, which has been mentioned in novels and known for being packed most of the day every day, resorted to curbside pickups before Gov. Ned Lamont loosened restrictions and allowed limited capacity in eateries. Rein's was kind of sort of back to its old self once dining rooms re-opened.

Another iconic restaurant, the Pearl Restaurant & Bar, at the Inn at Longshore in Westport, temporarily closed to make room for a new establishment.

The Dockside Brewery in Milford received its Certificate of Occupancy from local officials on April 2, and that seemed like a cruel joke with the pandemic forcing eateries to temporarily shutter with no timeframe given to reopen. Still, the place opened up one day later, offering takeout.

When restaurants were mandated to limit businesses to pickup and delivery, Joe Lanzieri of Cold Harbor Seafood & Market in Enfield instituted a policy requiring customers to sanitize their hands before entering the popular store. Two signs clearly stating the request were posted on the door, but employees were greeted by some customers who were decidedly less than friendly about it. Lanzieri then penned an open letter telling "negative people" to stay away from Cold Harbor and not ruin it for everyone else.

Jane Agostino said she was at first in shock when it was clear her popular Lakeside Diner in Stamford would need to shut down temporarily. Though she had owned and operated Lakeside for three decades, she had never experienced anything like it. The diner, another venue traditionally packed at all times, did rebound.

Other food establishments "toughed it out," like Caron's Corner, a fixture in Branford for nearly half-a-century. One day, for example, the line was seven-deep, albeit seven people all 6-feet apart.

Many restaurants and towns set aside outdoor tables to accommodate diners in need of a night of day out of the house.

Some supermarkets, like Aldi and Big Y, actually expanded, and Stop & Shop managed to renovate several stores in 2020-21 after settling a strike a year earlier.

Salon and barbershop owners were the loudest early-on about the need to re-open. In June, given the close-contact nature of salons and barbershops, stringent rules were put in place to mitigate the risk of virus transmission.

Amanda Rae Knight, owner and operator of Attitudes Salon in South Windsor, was worried about the cost of re-opening, but was later relieved when sanitizing steps were attainable.

"We're very social ... it's like family in the shop," she added. "We're carefree and personal. I never wanted a stuffy, commercial salon. I'll see what we can do because we have to get back open. People need haircuts."

In the end, Knight said she was able to improvise and get back open.

Several high profile brands closed stores and even planned to close-up shop. Brooks Brothers closed a store in Darien and Omaha Steaks announced several closings. Victoria's Secret seemed to be in peril and Lord & Taylor was about to vanish from the retail landscape.

An Eversource Energy rate increase was suspended by state regulators after a public outcry, citing hardships amid the pandemic when bills increased by more than a hundred bucks a month. The utility re-applied for a rate increase in March 2021.

With more folks working at home and not heading to stores Amazon flourished and plans were set for it to open a distribution b=hub at the state's largest facility in Manchester. A major supermarket distribution center also opened at the 1.9-million-square-foot facility.

Early in the pandemic, some movie theaters suffered catastrophic losses. For example, Fairfield's only movie theater — Fairfield Cinemas — had to close after 26 years in business. The pandemic also created a boom to bring back the drive-in concept. Theaters like the one in the Parkade section of Manchester took to a conversion to an outdoor venue, more easily adaptable to social distancing rules.

The Southington Drive-In featured streamed concerts from iconic acts like Blake Shelton and Metallica.

Sports as a business were turned upside-down by the pandemic. Pro teams like the Hartford Yard Goats, New England Black Wolves and Hartford Wolf Pack either had no seasons or altered seasons or no fans.

The University of Connecticut's top-ranked women's basketball team has been playing at empty arenas and there wasn't a football season at UConn. College spring sports teams have been playing with restrictions.

In the fall, ESPN announced layoffs totaling about 300 along with a plan to leave another 200 open positions unfilled, citing a "tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports."

One entrepreneur In Hamden turned to the sport he loved to pick up the pieces. Paul McConnell launched Reel Adventure Outfitters – a new fly-fishing guide company – just months after the pandemic turned his life upside down. Before the pandemic, McConnell was a football coach for Fairfield Youth and team director for Connecticut at Football University. He had coached several Division I athletes from middle school for private one-on-one coaching.

All was not certainly doom and gloom throughout the past 12 months in the Nutmeg State.

At the beginning, a priest came in to bless Molly Darcy's, an Irish pub in Danbury. Manager Colleen Brunner said it was all part of the fun to make the place an outlet to get away from the stresses.

"We are very positive here," she said at the beginning of the pandemic. "We are remaining open, and we are going to provide everybody in town a safe place."

She said pub personnel were following all the Department of Health-recommended cleaning procedures, and she is even checking to make sure the dishwasher is running at the proper temperature.

Brunner said, "We hope that people just come and enjoy the festivities and not get too wrapped up in what's going on in the world."

Then, there was a true business icon taking his annual sidewalk stage in Enfield.

Seddy Hewitt has played the Statue of Liberty for the past 10 tax seasons at Liberty Tax Service. Yes, he had a mask on this time around, but the smile on his face was nevertheless evident as he danced his way through one rainy day in late February.

Hewitt said he was not only happy to be working, but happy to be doing what has become his trademark.

"That intersection is my signature," he said. "I try to be a positive thing for everybody to see. If you're having a bad day, use me as an influence to help you feel better. People take pictures, beep at me - it's a surreal feeling.

"I don't have the words to describe how I feel about this. It's a loving feeling."

See also: From 'Party Zero' To 7.6K Deaths & New Hope: Coronavirus Timeline

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