Many found ways to turn their local customer base into a national one.
As in-person experiences, such as shopping and going out to eat, were halted for a significant amount of time during the pandemic, small businesses had to find ways to survive.
“We were gearing up to offer wine tastings, cocktail making and cooking classes in people’s homes, but when the pandemic hit, it upended our entire business model and plans,” Michael Wolkon, co-founder of Night Inn, told ABC News. “So then we started in June of 2020 offering virtual wine tastings to individual groups at home, as well as corporate clients who wanted to do virtual happy hours across the entire country.”
Night Inn, founded by Wolkon, Rena Ogura and Ryan Lane also turned these virtual tastings into a way to give back to an industry that was so badly hit by the pandemic by hiring bartenders and sommeliers who were laid off.
“They're really excited about this opportunity to completely work on their own time and make an additional income stream,” Wolkon said.
More importantly, they found that their virtual experiences were giving people the togetherness they longed for as they were separated for months.
“We love the idea and the feeling of community that you can have just by being in a private space with the people you care about," Ogura said. "What the online model demonstrated to us and what we've heard from our guests is that this has been one of the very few ways in which they've felt truly connected and truly together with their families."
“We have our professional from California talking to people in New York," Lane added. "And that family in New York has cousins out in Denver, and it brings everyone together just from one sitting. It was one of the hidden gems from virtual that we discovered."
Night Inn continues to help industry professionals like restaurateurs, bartenders and sommeliers as they plan to expand to in-person tastings and experiences with a COVID-19 protocol set in place.
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