The morning rush as people hurry to grab their coffee before work has been absent since the pandemic started in March. Fewer people are working or are working from home, leaving coffee shops with fewer customers to serve.
Three Bees Coffee in downtown San Mateo has felt this absence. The owner, Rafat Haddad, has been in business for 19 years. It had two locations, the other in the San Mateo Library. Now only the downtown location is open as the location in the library had to close down in March.
“It has definitely slowed down prior to the pandemic,” Haddad said. “It has affected our business and our sales, and emotionally, everything in a way. You don’t know what will happen tomorrow, if cases are going up.”
Business has been down about 30% to 40%, Haddad said. It used to close at 6:30 p.m. but then started closing at 3 p.m. in the beginning of the pandemic. It now has normal hours in the morning but closes at 5 p.m. every day.
“We’ve been here for a long time so we’ve been lucky that a lot of regular customers have been supportive, going in and helping out,” Haddad said. “It’s been a community effort basically that’s kept us going.”
The loss of foot traffic from nearby workers and other businesses that have closed means less business overall, Haddad said.
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The shop no longer has indoor seating since the pandemic and Haddad was able to work with the city to have outdoor seating, he said.
There are now extra precautions with cleaning products, sanitization, gloves and extra supplies. Online ordering has expanded and phone orders and occasionally curbside pickup is allowed.
Haddad and his employees were able to receive federal money through the Paycheck Protection Program. He managed to keep his employees except one who had worked at the library location. Employees now work as part-timers and Haddad even cut his own hours to try to support his employees, he said.
“In the future, I’m worried about the winter time, the flu season, the rain,” Haddad said, “In normal years, when it rains, people don’t go out as much. The uncertainty of the winter, I think it’s going to be more challenging than the previous months since it started in March.”
He is also hoping the virus slows down and that there are fewer cases, he said.
“We are just hoping to stay in business and keep thriving,” Haddad said. “The way I see it, I overcame two bad times, which is 9/11 and 2008, and this is the third one so I’m hoping we’re gonna be OK. We have the community and customers who have been coming here since the day I opened. I appreciate that from them. The genuinity of customers and the regular customers, they are so helpful and supportive, and that’s why I keep going. I see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
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(1) comment
Nice little coffee shop -- with great coffee and best latte around. Give them a try if you haven't already.
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Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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