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Covid Commerce | Maple Grove Hot Springs

Right now, in neighborhood shops, main street stores, favorite foodie joints, and even your friendly off-grid hot springs, small businesses are yet again learning to adapt. ⁠

⁠These last two weeks of a Covid-driven decrease in staffing, stability, and collective mood have reminded us that a new year also means new ways of thinking, doing, and being. ⁠

⁠While we are so thankful to all our guests for thinking fresh alongside us as we reintroduce simple precautions like indoor masks and an all-hands-on-deck approach to holding space for your experience, our sense is that small businesses everywhere are feeling the heat. ⁠

⁠Temps are rising from customers and their wide range of opinions on masks and mandates. From longer wait times at our favorite restaurants. From unpredictable hours at our places of habit. From cancellations here and refunds there. ⁠

⁠Nearly every family, and certainly every team, has been impacted by Covid since the new year’s start. Business is not as usual. ⁠

⁠But are we all, as customers, acting as if it was? ⁠

⁠Sometimes. ⁠

⁠So, a simple reminder as we all enter a new week of continued Covid commerce:

Behind every purchase at a small shop, there is probably a family or a neighbor or a fellow human who has bet the farm on your relationship. There is a team of talented souls who devotes their waking hours to their craft. They are in love with their store, their contribution, their art, their product, and their experience. ⁠

⁠They are giving all of their love each and every day. ⁠

⁠So, when your line's a little long, see that love. When their answer can't be what you want, feel that love. When their team is a little new, believe in that love. ⁠

⁠The relationship between a business and a customer is an interdependent one. So when in doubt, let's let it be lovely. ⁠

⁠Days from now, months from now, and years from now, we will all look back and remember the love, not the lines. ⁠⁠

From our family to yours, be well with a whole lotta love. ⁠

— Jordan Menzel


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