JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If you ask any small business owner like Angie Brack, they’ll probably tell you it’s been tough operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Having the setback of everything that’s occurred, it hits us differently,” Brack said. “It hits us personally.”
Brack owns Really Good Beer Stop in Jacksonville Beach. She said they are taking a leap of faith by opening a new location in Nocatee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We thought to ourselves like, okay we have a place already that’s being shut down, and then are we either really smart or really dumb to be opening another bar during a pandemic where it’s shut down? So, you know, time will tell,” Brack said.
The craft beer store and tasting room in Jax Beach has been open for five years. The business was doing great, so Brack decided to expand. She signed a lease for a spot in the Nocatee Town Center in the summer of 2019.
“Pre-pandemic. No prediction whatsoever that this was going to occur, right?” Brack said.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted small businesses like hers. The location in Jax Beach was closed for months. Brack said they switched to to-go orders to stay afloat.
Bars across the state were able to reopen in June only to be forced to stop selling alcohol on-premises yet again a few weeks later.
Brack said the landlord handed over the keys in May. She said they remained optimistic and opened up the new location last Thursday.
“We obviously wanted to be in this community and we wanted to open up this business,” Brack said.
Brack said she never had any interest in selling food, but it was the only way she could stay open with the current COVID-19 guidelines.
That’s why she applied for a permanent food service license. Without it, she said the Nocatee location would’ve failed before even getting started. Brack also obtained a food permit for the craft beer store in Jax Beach.
According to records from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Division of Hotels and Restaurants received 471 permanent food service license applications from Florida businesses in June, 564 in July, and 304 so far this month.
Brack said if 2020 has taught her anything, it’s that you need to be ready to adjust.
“Covid has definitely changed the way that we have to navigate our business at our small business in order to get open and stay open,” Brack said.
Despite the uncertainties, Brack said she’s embracing growth during the pandemic.
“We are really excited to expand our business even though we are doing it interesting times and with interesting licenses,” Brack said.