A woman-owned cheese and provisions shop in Prospect Heights has reopened, but now staff is making every effort to keep the doors open, after taking a financial hit amid the pandemic.
Hand-crafted cheeses and grocery items line the shelves of Brooklyn Larder.
"We specialize in meats and cheeses. Anything that kind of goes with a great meat and cheese board, and then we sell a ton of sandwiches, meatballs, the kind of things you would make at home to have a really nice quality meal,” says owner Mandy Wynn.
The retail cheese and provisions shop has been in the neighborhood for 11 years.
Wynn says when the pandemic hit, the shop closed for the month of April because it was short-staffed, and after reopening she says the shop has been struggling to stay afloat.
"We started at 10%, 20%, we're actually up to 30% of our business now, but it's scary kind of looking into the end of the year, which is typically when we do most of our business for holiday catering and gifting and not knowing what the numbers are going to be like,” says Wynn.
"Trying to adjust the prices down because we've also found that people need a bit of a financial break, and we've always had the online business, so you can order from anywhere,” says Wynn.
The owner says the shop has managed to stay open week by week and now there's safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19
"We're taking everybody's temperature that works here, also limit the number people in store. Making sure they're spaced out appropriately,” says Wynn.
Wynn says she's hoping that business will pick up by the end of the year, so the shop can keep its doors open.