March Update
Hi paper friends!
I’ve been mulling over everything that has been going on and the impact it has had on other communities. I believe there is a fine line between the spectrum of running to Costco, clearing out pallets of toilet paper and ignoring the growing situation with the COVID-19.
I’m going to be transparent AF right now.
I could go on and on about what worries me, with a young infant I’ve already been hyper vigilant about exposing her to any kind of illness. But it also extends to my family abroad, in Singapore, particularly my 90+ year old grandmother. We had original plans to head that way this summer so Penelope could meet her great grandmother - all of this is on hold for now.
As a small business owner, who has spoken to a lot of other small business owners, there is a sense of doom amongst these businesses who do not know if they will “survive” this. When you own your own business and have a physical space, you are self employed. You do not have the option to work from home. You do not have a guaranteed salary. You do not have the option to not cover your overhead (rent, bills etc.).
You depend on your community.
It is completely natural and understandable that there is an air of fear since there is so much unknown out there - and I’m not here to add to the fear nor do I want to play into the panic that some people have exhibited. When scary things are happening, the last thing people are thinking of is “ooo, let me pick up a new creative hobby!” or “I really need a new pen and notebook!” They’re too busy buying Purrell and reselling it on the hand sanitizer black market (jokes jokes.)
Jokes aside, I would be foolish to pretend like nothing is going on and to not have some plans in place. This may seem so negative and such a downer but some small businesses may not bounce back from this. And some may. But they will need your support. I will need your support.
Here are the five things I am committed to doing right now:
I’m committed to keeping our doors open as long as it is deemed safe and right to do so for our employees and guests.
I’m committed to not just stop what we are doing as a business - if I let fear take over, it will trickle down to the vendors we order from, the instructors we host in our studio, who are business owners who also depend on us.
I’m committed to taking care of our employees in lieu of my monthly salary if needed.
I’m committed to doing my best to weather out the next couple of months - no matter what happens or doesn’t happen.
I’m committed to not just stop what we are doing as a business and to personally, continue to live my life.
A little PSA and reminder that in general, the world could always use extra kindness. And perhaps even more now :)
xoxo,
Pei
HERE’S OUR OFFICIAL P+CP STATEMENT BELOW:
As of March 12th, 2020:
The Paper + Craft Pantry will remain open and continue to operate as a business - both as a retail space as well as for our scheduled classes.
Our team has been provided information and resources to maintain a safe, clean and healthy environment within our four walls. In addition to our standard daily cleaning practices, we have added on several operational protocols to disinfect based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization.
We have also been informed by the property management team at Springdale General of their increased efforts to maintain the common areas and the entire property for the safety of all tenants as well as guests to the area.
WE DEEPLY CARE ABOUT OUR EMPLOYEES, INSTRUCTORS AND COMMUNITY. IF YOU DO NOT FEEL WELL OR ARE EXHIBITING SYMPTOMS (ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19 OR OTHERWISE), PLEASE HEAVILY CONSIDER STAYING HOME - TO MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF OTHERS WHO MAY BE EXPOSED TO YOU.
Our Retail Shop:
We will remain open and evaluate daily with regards to the safety and health of our employees + guests. We're inviting guests coming into our shops to make use of our private bathroom to have access to wash their hands.
We will share and update via social media as well as in our newsletter if this changes.
Upcoming Workshops:
As long as our instructors are healthy, we will move forward with our scheduled workshops. Our workshops have always been intimate with class sizes no more than 10-12 students unlike the large scale events that have been cancelled around the nation that draws out hundreds and thousands of attendees.
If an instructor is unwell, we will postpone and reschedule the workshop. This is to prioritize the safety and health of you, our students. And now we will ask you, as a student, to do the same.
We are implementing a Workshop Clause (from March 12th 2020 - April 30th 2020) to our standard Workshop Policy: If a student communicates with us within 48 hours of the workshop that they are unwell, they will receive full credit towards any future workshop in our studio.
As a small business, we are not taking any of this lightly and have spent time weighing out what is best for our community. This not only impacts us, but has a trickle down effect to all the incredible small businesses we work with to stock our shop and extends to the small business owners who lead our incredible workshops.
Although this may be a strain on us as a small business, we are being proactive and thinking about people over profit.
We have been committed to delivering the very best to our community and intend to do so in a way that maintains the safety, health, and wellness of our employees, instructors, workshop students, and shop guests.