Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • November 2, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 17 noons and evenings. WeHa will roast the coffee and brew the beer it serves. McCormack and his business partner — who serves as head brewer — plan on hiring up to 10 employees, and want to open by May. The terrain has been treacher- ous for a first-time business owner launching a drinking establishment, especially since bars are still not al- lowed to open and restaurants have been restricted to limited indoor capacity (currently at 75%). But Mc- Cormack said he's been able to count on a supportive business community, including the Small Business Devel- opment Center, which has provided him with advice and contacts. "The community really stepped up and they really want to support local business at this time," said McCormack, who noted many of his investors are local. Business: The Place 2 Be Owner: Gina Luari Type: Restaurant City: Hartford When the pandemic hit, Luari was already far into her plans to open two new The Place 2 Be breakfast- and-lunch restaurant locations. She was locked into leases at 5 Con- stitution Plaza in Hartford and in West Hartford's Blue Back Square so she's pushed forward with both expansions, although on a delayed timeline. She officially opened the down- town restaurant in October, and added a number of modern ameni- ties to the former Spectra Wired Cafe location. The new 4,500-square-foot space is equipped with touch-screen kiosks customers can use for to-go coffee orders, Luari said. Diners can also order from their phones and have food delivered to their table. The Blue Back Square spot — at 50 Memorial Road, in the former lo- cation of the now-defunct The Cook & The Bear restaurant — is sched- uled to open at the end of December. Luari plans on hiring 25 employees at each location. Early on during the pandemic, The Place 2 Be's flagship location in Hartford's south end, at 615 Franklin Ave., had to shift its business model — moving to takeout-only, Luari said. But takeout business was more successful than she expected — it currently makes up 50% of revenue — which could bode well for the new downtown Hartford storefront. "We had an amazing response," she said. "Downtown was a ghost town, but about 90% of to-go orders were from downtown. There is definitely a need for us — even during a pandemic." The chang- ing dynamics led her to put a lot more effort into The Place 2 Be's to-go busi- ness, by buying microwavable food containers and investing in an online ordering/point-of-sale system that streamlines the takeout order process, Luari said. Luari said she's spending almost $700,000 to open the two new loca- tions, with help from a state Depart- ment of Economic and Community Development loan. The pandemic hasn't affected the scope of The Place 2 Be's expan- sion, but it has delayed it, Luari said. That's mostly because it's been harder to get permits and approv- als signed in a timely fashion since many municipal offices have been closed for periods of time, and people are working from home. Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Stevens Manufacturing, Milford, CT | 1990 | 22,000 sq. ft. • 1998 | Addition — 5,000 sq. ft. 2009 | Addition — 8,300 sq. ft. • 2016 | Addition — 29,000 sq. ft. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. More CT residents starting up new businesses during pandemic Here is a breakdown of business starts and stops in Connecticut from January to September of this year compared to previous years. Starts Stops Net 2015 21,855 9,413 12,442 2016 23,643 8,503 15,140 2017 24,426 10,948 13,478 2018 26,462 9,770 16,692 2019 27,977 33,607 -5,630 2020 29,069 14,981 14,088 Source: CT Data Collaborative (Left) An artist rendering of the planned WeHa Brewing & Roasting cafe/brewery. (Right) The Place 2 Be restaurant's Principal Owner Gina Luari outside the new downtown Hartford location. HBJ PHOTO | SEAN TEEHAN RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED

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