Looking forward to a COVID thaw

LACONIA — It’s as hard to ignore as the warming of temperatures and the melting of snowbanks: Consumers and businesses alike are optimistic that, as winter loosens its grip on the region, so, too, will there be a COVID thaw.

“I do feel like we’re stepping into a new phase,” said Karmen Gifford, president of the Greater Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce. “We have a lot of people who have had both vaccination (doses), are feeling more confident. Our retail stores, our restaurants are back open, now we need to get them staffed.”

According to the state’s COVID-19 Dashboard, more than 12% of the New Hampshire’s population has been vaccinated against the virus. Meanwhile, the seven-day average rate of new infections has fallen to 293, from a high of 869.4 on Dec. 8. Though that infection rate is still much higher than 20, where it hovered at the end of last summer, businesspeople expressed optimism that the summer of 2021 would make up for lost time.

Out to lunch

Dave Henrick, who opened Lakeside Roast Beef and the 405 Pub and Grill, both in Laconia, said he’s “excited” by the signs of life breaking free from the pandemic’s restrictions.

“I think we’re all moving forward as a community, with all the vaccines being issued now,” Henrick said. The vaccine, and the greater understanding of how the coronavirus is and isn’t transmitted, he said, is giving people more of a sense of control than they had a year ago.

“I’m excited about the spring and going forward, I think it’s going to be extremely busy in the Lakes Region,” Henrick said.

The 405 had a pretty good winter, he said, likely due to the closures – some temporary and some permanent – of some other restaurants nearby, Henrick said. He cautioned against proceeding too rapidly, though, describing the lessening of restrictions as “baby steps.”

“Everybody needs to be collectively cognizant going forward,” Henrick said. “If we all stay positive and do the right thing, keeping an eye on the numbers, it can only get better from here.”

The past 12 months have been a mixed bag for Reuben Bassett, owner of Burrito Me, a casual eatery, and the fine dining Local Eatery, both in Laconia.

“Burrito Me was down pretty significantly,” Bassett said. “Local was a little different.”

The burrito business ended the year with revenue down about a third, Bassett said. He has used the slowdown to renovate his space in order to improve traffic flow and efficiency, and reduce crowding of customers during the lunch rush.

Local Eatery fared better, due to their ability to seat people outside during the warm weather, indoors thanks to an investment in non-porous barriers between tables, and to the success of take-out and take-and-bake meals they added to their offerings.

Bassett expected that the Lakes Region, which was seen as an oasis for cooped-up city dwellers last summer, will continue to be so even if the pandemic continues to lessen.

“There’s still pent-up demand, we’re even more of a destination,” Bassett said. “If you’re talking about going to Boston, what are you going to do? Up here, it’s different. People are still looking to get away… I think this summer is going to be really good.”

Time for a trim

At Polished and Proper, owner Bree Neal can now again take walk-in clients, something that was restricted for the past 12 months. However, she’s not throwing out the reservation system.

“After a year of customers finally learning how to make appointments, I don’t want to drastically change things on them or us,” Neal said. She will start with having one of her barbers helping the walk-ins, while the rest of the chairs will be reservation-only. Eventually, she foresees a future where the barbers with the most established clientele will be appointment-only, the newly minted barbers working the walk-in crowd, and those in between taking some appointments and some walk-ins.

“Every barber gets to do what they want to do,” Neal said.

Business was down last year, she said, but not down so much that it created a hardship for her business or her barbers. “We made enough to not be concerned about being able to stay open, or not be able to live off our income,” she said.

As with Bassett’s observation about getaways, Neal said there’s still a backlog of demand for haircuts. Young men are coming in with a sudden appetite for mullets – hair short on the sides and top, long in the back – and flat-tops. “Tyler’s the king of mullets and flat-tops,” she said of one of her barbers.

Meanwhile, the older men, especially those who found themselves working from home for months at a time, are walking in with beards that would make Grizzly Adams blush.

After the widespread shut-down in March and April of last year, Neal said her patrons have discovered a new appreciation for a fresh cut.

“It only takes two months for people to really value us when we’re gone,” she said.

Banking on summer

Bank of New Hampshire has seen this kind of thing before. Established in 1831 – and known as Laconia Savings Bank for most of the years since – the bank persevered through the Spanish Influenza, the Great Depression, two world wars and several market tumbles.

Chris Logan, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said banking has proven to be a stalwart industry, at least in the past year.

“2020 proved to be more stable than anticipated at the onset of the pandemic, due to a combination of government programs and the overall performance of the local economy,” Logan said.

Stable, yes, but the bank’s business and staffing models were re-written.

In addition to sanitation and social distancing measures, Bank of NH had many of its workers clock in from home, and closed all 21 of its lobbies as of Nov. 16, not to reopen for walk-in traffic until March 13. Drive-in and appointment-only services were continued.

Logan said the circumstances that led to the reopening of lobbies included the overall and consistent drop in COVID cases, increasing availability of vaccines and personal protective equipment, and confidence in safety protocols that will keep employees and customers safe in the buildings.

Logan said the bank is “cautiously optimistic” for 2021. “We are structured and prepared to handle these times but our initial projections after Q1 are hopeful as we move into our state’s summer with much anticipation.”

Meredith Village Savings Bank’s operations were similarly solid, said president Rick Wyman.

“As eventful as COVID has been to the world and to us, our institution was fortunate enough to not miss a beat,” Wyman said.

Like Bank of NH, MVSB had to get creative with how to help customers, especially when the lobbies were closed. Customer service representatives helped people through the drive-through or over the phone as much as they could, though some things, such as opening a new account or closing on a loan, require too much paperwork. In those cases, bank employees either ran documents out for parking lot deals, or found an isolated conference room that could be used without risking exposure to too many inside the building.

“The worst thing that could happen is that you could get infected, and you’d have to close the entire branch, and then you can’t do anything for anyone,” Wyman said.

Logan said that having so many workers complete their duties from home opened Bank NH’s eyes to that possibility, and Wyman agreed. He said it represents a way to overcome some of the barriers that keep people from taking a job they want but that’s in a place they don’t want to live.

Wyman said it’s a lesson that could benefit many local businesses.

“Think about the businesses and their ability to bring in a type of employee that the Lakes Region can’t attract. Let’s face it, the Lakes Region is not a metropolitan area,” Wyman said. If they can work remotely, though, that job candidate from Boston, New York, or even further away, wouldn’t have to choose between the job and their city. “With remote work you get the best of both worlds,” Wyman said.

The summer of 2020 was generally considered to be a good one for local businesses, especially those who catered to visitors and seasonal residents. That was despite the lack of vaccines, so Wyman predicted a robust summer for 2021.

“The continuation of the vaccine is going to influence people positively to go out and do the things that they weren’t doing,” Wyman said. “People’s feelings are going to be so much more positive… We know much more, we’ve experienced much more, it’s a whole different ball game than it was a year ago.”