How to Support Brick and Mortar Stores Amidst Covid-19

How to Support Brick and Mortar Stores Amidst Covid-19

With quarantine extensions beginning to indicate the current, growing severity of this pandemic, many universities, public schooling, large venues, sports, and numerous other industries begin to prepare for the long-term. Uncertainty seems to be the one thing certain during the coronavirus pandemic, upheaving the lives of billions of Americans. During this stressful and unprecedented time period, it is ever-so important to find ways to support local, from retailers to restaurants. Many large corporations like UberEats and DoorDash offer free delivery from local restaurants in order to help promote the takeout business. But what about retailers? What is the best way you can support your local brick and mortar store?

 

How to Offer Financial Support

  1. The most obvious way to support your local retailers would be to purchase, if possible, any product. Big or small, all purchases help the shop pay fixed costs such as rent. However, not every store is equal. Here at the Natural Mattress Company, we know buying a mattress is a long process, including time for research and testing. However, we do offer a couple of mattresses that can be re-customized softer or firmer after purchase for no charge while our store’s showroom is closed.

  2. If possible, buy a gift card from your favorite store. This is a popular way to give money to the stores to use now, and allows you to use the gift card later, thus benefiting both parties.

 

How to Offer Other Support

  1. Promote the brand online! A positive review or just a post about the store is just as important as financial support. Remember to follow all of your favorite stores on social media and love their posts.

  2. Check out their website. Website traffic is a great way to boost a company while allowing you to continue research on the brand or product that caught your eye!

  3. Reach out. If you really would like to support your local stores, shoot them an email or leave a call! Asking what you as a customer and patron can during this time is the best and simplest way to provide support.

 

During this pandemic, it is extremely important that we rely on each other, our neighbors, friends, families, and even local businesses. Remember that eventually this will all be over, and here at the Natural Mattress Company we are very excited for the day we get to reopen our doors and talk face-to-face with our customers again. One of the best ways to support your favorite local store is to prepare for after quarantine. Stopping in to say shop or even just say hello offers us the encouragement needed to get through the trying times to follow. We miss all of you greatly and wish you and your loved ones well. Remember to stay safe, and stay inside!

Earth Day, 1% for the Planet & The Natural Mattress Company

We try to do our small part for the earth.  1% off all sales are donated to 1% for the Planet. Not just for Earth Day but all year long! A Burlington VT based non profit, their impact is to bring dollars and doers together to accelerate smart environmental giving. Here is a blog the Intervale Center wrote on the relationship between 1% for the planet, member companies such as The Natural Mattress Company, PatagoniaSkinny PancakeSunsoil, and Dickson Law, and local environmental non profits such as the Intervale Center.

https://www.intervale.org/blog-source/1-can-make-a-huge-impact

Through 1%,  we support other Burlington local non profits such as the Intervale Center   Lake Champlain Land Trust and 350VT. The Intervale’s mission is to strengthen community food systems.During the COVID 19 pandemic the  Intervale Center and many across Vermont will need resources to cope with major disruptions but to also increase our capacity to support our neighbors who farm and need food during this crisis. Please consider making a donation to the Intervale Center here.  This year the Natural Mattress was a sponsor of Wintervale and is excited to be a returning contributor to Summervale!

350Vermont organizes, educates, and supports people in Vermont to work together for climate justice – resisting fossil fuels, building momentum for alternatives, and transforming our communities toward justice and resilience.

Here is a statement from 350VT since the pandemic has occured: Clearly the landscape has changed, but we remain committed to working for climate justice – and if anything, the root causes of the climate crisis are that much more apparent now! The fossil fuel industry is using this moment of vulnerability to build more pipelines, the federal government is de-regulating environmental standards, and states are passing laws banning nonviolent direct action. There is no doubt that the community-based solutions and resiliency we’ve been building together are needed now more than ever. We’ve moved all of our Earth Week community actions online, and we hope you’ll join us for those and other webinars that we’ll be announcing soon.

The Lake Champlain Land Trust mission is to save the scenic beauty, natural communities, and recreational amenities of Lake Champlain by permanently preserving significant islands, shoreline areas, and natural communities in the Champlain Region.You can visit the land trusts website to join their newsletter to receive updates. I think their trails are still open!

 

Few Brands We’re Proud to Represent Response to COVID-19

At OMI, the health and safety of our employees, customers and partners is our top priority. Accordingly, we have implemented new procedures of our own, and also followed the suggestions of CDC and others, in response to the COVID-19 virus.

At our Eco-Factory in California, we have installed certain new policies that limit our production staff’s contact with products, and contact between one another as much as possible. This includes for example, staggered shifts.  Also, we have implemented an enhanced cleaning regimen for all hard surfaces including our machinery and tools, following best practices as recently outlined by health organizations.

In addition, we are using commercial purifiers in key locations, to circulate air thru Super HEPA filters. The purifiers in use at our factory are equipped with UV germicidal lamps to flood airborne pathogens with ultraviolet light. The combination of a Super HEPA filter and UV exposure are shown to be highly effective in removing airborne viruses. These special filtration systems have also been made available to OMI retailers, for use in their stores.

For sales and customer service personnel, our modern communication systems allow the teams to work from their homes, to be with their families and also to observe the very important restrictions placed on social contact. Our work-from-home policy of course also means we are able to maintain continuity in service.

As a company committed to purity and health since our founding in 2003, know we are doing our part to keep our workforce well and limit the transmission of COVID-19 virus.

 

White Lotus Home:

We are following the guidance of global health experts at WHO and U.S. CDC on preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus including the following:

  • Any employee that shows any signs of illness, is asked to please go home. They will be using sick days and we are working on offering more paid days off as soon as we get new financial assistance. Thankfully, none of our crew members has had to go home due to illness.
  • Our staff is following all the frequent hand washing protocols. We are cleaning and disinfecting our entire facility daily, including but not limited to cleaning all door handles inside and out, bathrooms and kitchen, all sewing machines and areas of handcrafting, every handcrafter is now working in their own separate room.
  • Once each product has been handcrafted, they are properly sealed in a bag (or paper wrapped if you prefer).  For orders shipping via UPS, FedEx or USPS, the already sealed order is placed inside a brand new box

In order to reduce exposure from the time your order is handmade in our NJ facility until the time it enters your home:

  • When your order arrives, you can remove and discard/recycle the box before you bring the bagged product(s) into your home.

 

Savvy Rest:

COVID-19 has deeply impacted the lives of everyone across the globe in various ways, and here at Savvy Rest the situation is no different.

As an organic company, health is something we take seriously. We have been monitoring local and national news and continue to stay informed of CDC recommendations. We also value the communities we are part of–our work community, our local community, and all of the communities that are part of Savvy Rest’s broad reach. We want to be as responsible as possible to help prevent the spread of this highly contagious disease.

Employees in our warehouse are practicing social distancing and CDC hygiene recommendations at all times.