HARTFORD, Conn. — Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that several restrictions for businesses relaxed as of May 1st, and entirely a few weeks later on May 19th.
Businesses have poured their blood, sweat and tears into re-inventing the wheel over the past year, getting creative with their businesses, and now, the hard work has paid off.
Phil Barnett, the owner of the Hartford Restaurant Group, said there’s nothing better than seeing the customer confidence continue to grow.
“To get this news yesterday, was just fantastic. We’re all just very excited to know that we’re less than a month away from somewhat coming back to normal, yeah it’s really exciting,” he said.
Some industries getting hit the hardest from the pandemic included weddings, restaurants, bars and alcohol-driven establishments. Now that breweries, wineries and other establishments can operate without food, including Hartford Brewery Hog River Brewing, they’re able to get back to their roots.
“We’re thrilled here and we just can’t wait to have customers slowly get back to normal of how they felt here in the taproom," said Joy Braddock, co-owner of Hog River Brewing.
Typically, taprooms are community-driven, with socialization and comradery between craft beer enthusiasts sitting arm and arm, something that’s been taken away throughout the pandemic.
“At a taproom, you’re meant to linger in and just hang out for hours, share food with folks and we had to change that entire model. It really changed the feel of our business” Braddock said.
Braddock and her husband opened the brewery five years ago and never anticipated navigating through a pandemic.
“We’re just so happy to welcome people back. Have them come up to the bar and have those conversations with them” said Braddock.
With restrictions beginning to lift on May 1st, Lamont is sure that this will help local businesses thrive.
That being said, there’s a lot of planning and strategizing that will need to go into how these businesses will navigate this exciting new normal.
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