All the businesses I’ve photographed so far had to shift from the way they operated pre-Covid, to finding ways to operate under new guidelines and safety restrictions. But for businesses that were getting ready to open their doors for the first time, their first day of businesses was suddenly going to look very different.
At the beginning of this year, I had been watching as Crankhouse 130b was renovated into a coffee shop I was looking forward to setting up in with a coffee and my laptop. I haven’t been able to do that, but I have grabbed plenty of coffees to go after the pandemic caused their first few months to look a little different to what they expected. In the wide-open cafe-space, Tony and Rosie take care of cake and coffee, while Dave is next door, looking after the coffee beans.
“Initially, because we're a brand new business, it wasn't a case of us reopening. It really was like opening for the first time. So we were quite nervous. But actually, once we had that first day out of the way, it was great, because everyone was just really happy to come out and get a coffee, speak to someone and just have a chat with someone. I think a lot of people have been isolated over this period. So I think the novelty of being able to just order a coffee and have a normal chat, was something that some people really appreciate” says Tony.
“And honestly, yeah, a lot of positives like people are a lot more patient. Having one in one out has given us a chance to have more time with the customers and get to know people and chat to people more. It’s actually this sort of in-between time is a little bit trickier.”
“On the street, it's like a real community, everyone seems to support each other. Like the amount of people from other businesses that come in and people that have come in said they've been sent by other businesses. And so yeah, it feels like we've been welcomed by the street.”