In March, we were told to close our doors for two weeks. They stayed closed to everyone for 82 days. Last night, we were told to close them again for another three weeks, with promises of reopening the first week of January.

Truthfully, this has us at a loss. If we are in such an alarming state, why pick and choose who can stay open and who can’t? The decisions made like the one to close businesses like gyms and restaurants but allow crowds of people to shop together is not one we’re able to wrap our minds around.

For the record, we think they should all be open, but we struggle to understand the seemingly random selection process.

While we are understandably weary of this action, we have made the decision to close our business to the public for this limited time and we plan to hold the Governor to his word and reopen for indoor dining the week of January 4.

This is not something we take lightly, but in doing so, we will be able to continue to pay and provide benefits to all of our fulltime salaried team members. Ensuring their lives are not impacted – especially during the holiday season – had to be our top priority. By minimizing our operational expenses, we can protect the livelihood of our staff.

We also want to thank everyone who reached out in the last 24 hours to voice their support and encourage us to remain open. This was not an easy decision, but a necessary temporary one. 

If we can ask one more thing of our patrons, it is to continue to support local businesses during these incredibly difficult weeks. Order takeout when you can. Buy gift cards to your favorite places. And most importantly, keep yourself healthy – both mentally and physically.

We look forward to seeing you after the holidays.

Forklift & Palate