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After months of planning and preparations, Troubles End Brewing in Collegeville, Montgomery County officially opened on March 5, right before the pandemic brought the region to a standstill.
“Those first seven days we were open were awesome, and then we made the decision to close down March 12 once everything started to unfold,” said owner Dave Bellenzeni.
He said they readjusted their business model and quickly reopened in a different capacity.
“We kind of wanted to be a one-stop shop for people to come get food, and as many options for beer as possible” said Bellenzeni.
Jeff Hornstein with the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia said before the pandemic, more than half of small businesses were already going under, so setting up shop now is riskier than ever.
“If you're not well capitalized, if you didn't have a lot of money in the bank to start with as a startup, without a reputation, it seems to me to be a really, really challenging proposition right now,” Hornstein said.
Bellenzeni said that like many other businesses, this has been a difficult time for them. But he credits the community with his early success.
“That support has been able to keep us going thus far, because the overall message from people throughout the shutdown has been they just really want us to make it through it,” Bellenzeni said.
As he looks to the future and more ways to bring in revenue, Bellenzeni said they are now working on installing a microbrewery.
Delco steaks in Broomall, Delaware County is another new eatery that’s seen early success.
Lisa Barbieri with Delco Steaks said they opened the day after the state's stay-at-home order, so their inside stayed closed as they became a takeout spot. “We weren't sure how it was going to go at all. We just got thrown into it,” she said.
Barbieri said it started off being “hectic,” but now they have it under control, and the stay-at-home order gave them a chance to build their clientele through delivery.
Just last week, they were finally able to get a sign in front of their shop for their official grand opening, where they can now welcome customers in.