Publisher’s Toast: It was a glorious 4th for so many reasons

Earlier this month, we celebrated the 4th of July up at my daughter’s house in the Catskills, in the tiny hamlet of Margaretville, which is, all in all, not a bad place to be. We ventured into town for a carnival and to watch the fireworks with my 29 month-old granddaughter Isabel. It was a spectacular display and watching her reaction was priceless. There was so much joy, excitement and wonderment on her face and in her eyes. With thousands of other people there taking it all in too, I truly felt that we’re almost all the way back.

Since we were in the town, and then back in the city, I decided to log my annual visits to some of the many retail venues, familiar and unfamiliar, that I have used as a measuring stick to see the marketplace. Over the years I’ve gone into the same stores and spoken with the same personnel about their beverage volume, selection and any trends that they can ascertain. They are usually a pretty good barometer of where the business is headed, although sometimes they are distracted by people stealing candy. Among those I frequently canvassed were Fairway, Whole Foods, Key Foods, 7-Eleven, CVS and too many delis and bodegas to mention. This was a regular exercise for me on my walks around the city, but that too stopped with COVID. I was glad to see and chat with old faces again.

Almost all of them were cautiously optimistic that they were approaching pre-pandemic levels. The volume hasn’t fully returned, but the feeling was that it is close. Stocking the shelves and receiving deliveries in a timely manner was an issue: they said there was a shortage of drivers and in-store workers as many have opted to not return. A few said workers had been disincentivized due to extended unemployment benefits, but they were confident that when it ran out there would be many people ready to come back to the workforce. They have also returned to the store hours that were the standard prior to March 2020. This is sad for me as there are no more senior hours, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

It seemed that most wanted to stock brands that were around before the pandemic hit. They were wary of taking on newer products, as they wanted the choices to be easy for their regular customers. The new selections would have to wait for the fall.

Most of all there was a heightened sense of civility and appreciation between the store workers and the customers. That is a benefit that has come out of COVID, probably the only one.

We’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re getting there. Go get your vaccinations!