Well, my life has certainly changed in the last few months, and I’m sure yours has, too. In January the General Store was on track to have its best year ever, my kids were both settled in New York City, my wife and I were all set to begin a large remodeling of our home, and we were looking forward to a healthy and active summer. Today the General is struggling to stay afloat, my kids are living at home, the remodeling is all but on hold, my dog has cancer, and I broke my arm. Sound familiar?
There have been silver linings, however. The incredible General Store staff immediately pivoted the business model to accommodate contactless service in March; Congress, the governor, and the Select Board stepped in with business-saving relief in June; both my sons stepped up to run the business; living with them the second time around has really been fun; and joyfully, our hummingbirds are back. I hope you have found silver linings, too.
Business for the General remains challenging. We have already made changes to try to compensate for the dramatic decrease in the contactless pickup service. On July 4 we opened for breakfast and lunch service on our new patio, and early this month we started a Sunday brunch. Now we are expanding again, and starting Sept. 4 we will be taking reservations for dinner on the patio.
I have always believed that the most important thing the General Store sold was not goods or services, not food and drink, but community. That is still our primary goal, and we want the new dining room on the patio to feel safe, accessible, and comfortable for everyone in Harvard … and that is also why we have started a newsletter. For everyone who misses coming into the store and seeing their favorite staff member or meeting a friend, we wanted to bring a little bit of the store and the Harvard community you may be missing home to you on a regular basis.
Publication will be every two weeks and will be sent out through our email list, and posted on our Facebook and Instagram pages. We hope you will read, enjoy, and send us back your thoughts and ideas.
Scott Hayward, owner
Harvard General Store
