BY CASSIDEY KAVATHAS, MANAGING EDITOR
Falen Whipple started her business journey when the world faced a time of uncertainty. Firefly Bagels opened May 7, 2021 inside the Park N Shop on West State Street in Olean.
“When I moved back to Olean due to COVID-19, I noticed there were no fresh bagels. So I made my own,” said Whipple “I jokingly posted on Facebook one day that I had bagels. I wasn’t trying to sell them. My inbox flooded with messages like ‘Would you make me bagels?’”
Whipple sold bagels out of her mom’s kitchen before renting out a space and then moving into her own store. Then Whipple faced challenges of a physical location and the pandemic at the same time.
“It was a completely different animal,” said Whipple
The coronavirus pandemic changed the business world in March 2020. Local businesses faced new challenges as well as restrictions. New York state implemented a mask mandate as well as strict COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants such as capacity limits. Workers had to make decisions about the safety of work.
“Our businesses did the best they could,” said William Aiello, mayor of the city of Olean. “The city supported [them] by encouraging our community to still use our local businesses.”
Nate Smith, owner of Worth W. Smith Hardware, saw his stores becoming busier during the retail boom in the summer of 2020. While his stores filled with customers he found that they were understaffed.
“We stayed open seven days a week but tightened up the hours, and cut back on some of the services we perform,” said Smith. “ I believe that the world was more patient. Our customers were very patient if they had to wait five minutes for something.”
Vic Vena, owner of Allen’s Wine and Liquor, faced the same problems as Smith as his store became increasingly busy while understaffed.
“When everybody else was shutting down and going home, we were looking for an influx of employees to try to cover this big rush that happened,” said Vena “It left us scrambling as full timers working extra hours. We were overwhelmed for a while there.”
Dave Przesiek became one of the owners of The Burton in December of 2019. The Burton forcibly closed in March 2020 and reopened June 2020.
“We just kind of did what we needed to do to weather the storm,” said Przesiek.
Przesiek said that the financial challenge of closing his business had a huge impact on him as well as his staff.
“We did what we needed to do from a business perspective,” said Przesiek “We applied for a variety of the government back programs to help the business get through those particular times and those were helpful.”
As restaurants faced restrictions, take-out options became more plentiful.
“One of the things our businesses did is increase their takeout,” said Aiello “I think that’s what got a lot of them through.”
Whipple increased her online presence through Firefly Bagels’ partnership with DoorDash which is a food delivery app for local businesses.
“DoorDash helped a lot with bringing our food to people during COVID-19,” said Whipple “Offering delivery was really helpful with getting our name out there.”
Another lesson brought on by the pandemic has been a heightened focus on health and cleanliness.
“Job number one is keep employees and customers safe,” said Przesiek “We’re still doing all the things that we should do and always did before the pandemic such as making sure things are clean and things are wiped down.”
Vena hopes that as the pandemic seems to be improving he’ll see happier attitudes all around.
“The most challenging part was the lack of fun for a while and the seriousness,” said Vena “I hope people relax as we get back to normal.”
Whipple agrees that with the pandemic, people have had to pay more attention to the effect they have on others.
“Everyone helps each other. If you’re taking care of your team, they’ll take care of you whether it’s a pandemic or it’s not,” said Whipple “Everyone has to be hypersensitive to money and each other’s moods.”
As the pandemic is ever changing, Przesiek continues to look to the community for support and guidance.
“We’re going to pay attention to the things that happened in the community and adjust accordingly,” said Przesiek “We’ll always look at it through the lens of keeping our employees and our customers safe.”
Whipple has excitement for what the future holds as restrictions loosen and the pandemic withdraws.
“Our next step is expanding and getting a bigger place that will allow for more seating now that there aren’t any restrictions,” said Whipple “It’s about getting bigger and better and opening more locations like in Ellicottville or Buffalo.”
kavathcj20@bonaventure.edu
