One in an occasional series of features on Charlotte area businesses, nonprofits, and events, and how they are adapting to the “new normal.”
Our Subject: Blue Blaze Brewing is a brewery and taproom located along the Stewart Creek Greenway in Charlotte’s West End, less than a mile from Uptown. The location makes the taproom popular with cyclists and others who love the outdoors, especially hikers, from whom its name is taken.
What’s been impacted: Like a lot of bars and restaurants, Blue Blaze had to close its taproom during stay-at-home orders issued by the county and state.
“Because people can’t enjoy the brewery in person,” said owner Craig Nunn, “we lost 60 – 80% of our business in about 48 hours.” He added that besides the taproom, the majority of business was kegs sold to restaurants.
Innovative pivot: Blue Blaze shifted almost immediately to online ordering and touchless curbside pickup, as well as gift cards customers can buy to use later. But beyond that, Nunn says the brewery dusted off a plan it had been working on to deliver beer locally on specially-built bikes. They just had to make sure the plan was legal — which it was — and they were ready to go.
“It had been a longtime goal to home deliver on bikes to surrounding neighborhoods,” said Nunn. Now they are executing their plan in Uptown, Wesley Heights, Smallwood, Biddleville, Enderly Park, and parts of Elizabeth and South End. Trucks deliver further out, all the way to I-485.
But knowing their neighbors would need more than beer to sustain them, Blue Blaze hatched another plan involving a local food pantry. Blue Blaze works in partnership with Civil Gatherings as a drop-off spot for food donations. People can share what they have or take what they need; overflow is picked up and taken to nearby Bruns Academy.
And Blue Blaze customers can even go a step further — they can buy a four-pack of beer for a first responder or frontline healthcare worker. The four-packs are a way the local community can say Thanks.
Reactions: Customers have been generous with food and beer donations for frontline workers and emergency responders, said Nunn. They’ve also appreciated that they can still get their favorite brews in a safe way, ordering and paying online for touchless pickup or delivery.
“We view our place here as a neighbor, and people are responding in a very humbling way,” said Nunn. “We have an enormous amount of gratitude to folks who are helping us and other small businesses stay in business.”
Forecast for the future: They’ll feel out how much demand is out there for beer delivery and curbside pickup before they decide how much to offer. For now, it looks like bike deliveries to wholesale customers will continue even after stay-at-home orders are lifted, and bike deliveries to local homes might, too.
“Time has a way of refining and broadening perspective,” said Nunn. “We are reflecting on those things, and we’ll use those values when considering how to go forward.”
Two things will continue for sure, though: Online ordering, and the food pantry partnership.
“It’s not one and done. There are hungry people all the time, everywhere,” said Nunn. “That kind of support to folks in need around us will continue.”
Learn more – or order beer at: https://blueblazebrewing.com/