Recipe for Pandemic Survival as a Small Business? Reinvention

Susan Kuehler has come up with an interesting way to describe the current state of affairs for small businesses amidst the ongoing pandemic.

“It’s like the dinosaurs: adapt or die. And we don’t want to die,” she said.

Kuehler and her husband Mike McCathern co-own Bistro 108 restaurant and Celebrations wine bar in downtown La Grange, which they have decided to consolidate into the Celebrations location.

When pandemic closures began back in early March, it hit them particularly hard.

“Our pockets were shallow anyway,” Kuehler said. “Week to week, sometimes day to day, we didn’t know how we were going to pay the bills.”

But what they did know was that local people loved their food, and missed it when they closed their restaurant back in early March.

At the time they thought it was a temporary closure.

Three months later, that’s not the case.

Bistro 108 in the form everyone knew it is not coming back, but Kuehler and McCathern are not done cooking for people – and in fact that never really stopped.

“We just had to reinvent ourselves,” McCathern said. “After 16 years it is difficult

“After 16 years it is difficult to walk in (Bistro 108) without crying,” Kuehler said. “We put our heart and soul into that place.

“We’re not leaving because we want to, but because we’ve had to make some tough decisions .... This was not unique to us. This is a process all small businesses had to go through.”

In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic closures back in March, the duo began putting out word that they would do special order cooking for people, and then began a Saturday Supper Club meal pick-up program that has grown weekly.

They send out emails weekly about their menu selections (https://celebrationsbybistro108. square.site)

Now they are serving 150- 200 customers every Saturday – brown bag complete take-home and re-heat meals for two that people pre-order and McCathern delivers to their cars out front of the Celebrations location from 4-6 p.m.

Most of the food includes as much locally produced items, particularly vegetables, that they can find.

Thursday and Friday and Saturday they prep and package the food, along with one employee (Carlos Luna) that they have been able to retain – down from the 15-16 they used to have working in Bistro in addition to four more layoffs at Celebrations.

Kuehler said those employees were all part of a “disfunctional family” that has been hard to say goodbye to, but some have found other jobs, many are at home taking care of family members and getting unemployment benefits.

They mentioned that pandemic assistance programs from the city of La Grange have been especially helpful to them as business owners.

Kuehler said the capacity at Bistro was only 38 and many restaurants don’t even begin making money unless they are 75-percent capacity.

Celebrations has so much more space, but even so they are not ready to begin dine-in service – except for special events.

“When the time comes, and we feel assured that our staff and our guests can be safe, then we’ll reopen (for dine-in service),” Kuehler said. “Every day is wait and see. Every day is a new day.”

“Uncertainty is the bridle that won’t let us go full speed ahead.”

But they look at the bright side of the slowdown.

Instead of working every day, they are working to prep meals Thursday-Saturday.

“Mike and I have never had this much time together,” she said. “That’s a gift.”