With the shelter-in-place order handed down today, we are closing our Flowerland and San Pablo cafes. We understand the urgency in limiting the person to person contact and want to see the spread of the coronavirus contained.
We will at this time continue to operate our Rockridge spot as part of the Market Hall grocery. Everything is "to-go". There will be no seating and offerings will be greatly reduced. We'll continue to have fresh roasted beans and teas for you to stock your home. We will continue to roast and ship coffee as usual as long as allowed.
Those of you who are ordering beans on this website or gift cards for later use is making a bigger difference than you know. Thank you.
All of us at Highwire are struggling with the sudden loss of income. There is little that can be done to run a coffee company from home. Some have suggested we should pay everyone while we're closed. That would be cool and clearly in line with our values. Unfortunately, the imagined wealth of a small business is just that, and at this point, we will not have the cash for even one more payroll at full hours. So there will be drastic cuts to get to a sustainable level at our new business level. It truly sucks to feel this helpless.
That doesn't mean we won't try to do all we can. We are connecting our people with what hours we still have available. We are looking for temporary employment for affected people elsewhere, unemployment benefits and honestly any other way to support our people during this time. Thanks to those of you who have offered your ideas and support. We are already seeing the best come out in people who want to help. Landlords, vendors, and creditors have started to come forward with offers of help already.
I hope all of you stay well and safe and I look forward to seeing you when life returns to normal.