SPARTA, Mich. — Opening a business is not often described as "easy," and it can be especially tricky during a pandemic when economic turmoil has already ravaged the service and hospitality industries.
That Herculean task is what awaited the owners of Stoney Ridge Vineyard in Kent City and Brick Haus Brews in Sparta, both of which were scheduled to open in March.
"We had a soft opening March 13. It went wonderful," said Mary Smearman, co-owner of Stoney Ridge.
"We were very excited and then everyone knows what happened after that. So what we decided to do was to go with curbside service which was kind of a unique experience since no one had a chance to taste the wines at all."
Brick Haus had a similar response to the initial shutdown that came with COVID-19. They began to offer takeout on March 23.
"It was not the most cost effective, but it helped us get our name out there and it helped boost our reputation that we’re going to have very quality food, so it worked out for the short time but it couldn’t work out in the long run," said Brick Haus General Manager Michael Hermann.
In June, bars and restaurants across the state were allowed to reopen.
"New breweries are always usually crazy busy so I thought it was going to be just crazy. It really wasn't at first," said Hermann who has experience working at five other West Michigan breweries.
"It's just been slowly building which is actually beneficial for a brand new business especially with all the regulations and policies and stuff that we have to adhere to that either the governor puts in or we put in ourselves to make sure everybody’s safe and healthy."
For the owners of Stoney Ridge, opening their new tasting room marked a milestone in a journey eight years in the making. Smearman and Dale Flanery bought the farm in 2012. Since then, they've dealth with setbacks ranging from lengthy approval processes to Smearman battling Leukemia, which she has survived.
"We had so many other setbacks that in the scheme of things [COVID-19] was just another setback," Smearman said.
"It’s been so long that we’d thought about this for a very long time. Trying to envision what it would be like and if people were going to come and I guess that’s the emotion we struggled with the most," Flanery said.
"We got nearer and near to that 12 o'clock hour when we were opening and I think both of us wondered, will anybody come?"
That day and in the weeks following, the vineyard has seen a steady stream of customers.
Both businesses agree that uncertainty has been the most difficult part of opening a business during a pandemic.
"You never know from week to week what’s going to come down from the governor’s office. We just had the facemasks mandated. Are they going to shut us down? Are they going to increase our capacity?" Smearman said.
More on Brick Haus Brews - 133 E Division Street, Sparta:
Brick Haus Brews makes its own beer and also has craft beer from other popular breweries on tap. They also have spirits and are working on expanding their whiskey list.
Hermann describes the menu as diverse. Brick Haus serves everything from brick oven pizza to burgers and comfort food. They use as many locally sourced ingredients as they can.
More on Stoney Ridge Vineyards - 2255 Indian Lakes Road, Kent City:
Stoney Ridge has nine wines on the menu, including five whites and four reds. They also have four ciders and some food available. They will be looking to expand their food menu depending on what develops with the pandemic.
The vineyard's wines are mostly blended using cold hardy wine grapes.
"The one thing that we wanted to accomplish in this whole project was not to be a winery that’s producing wines that try to compete with California. We want to showcase Michigan wines and that’s what we’re after," said Flanery.
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