Kankakee Times

COVID-19 has put a lot of things on hold and is adversely affecting a variety of businesses in different ways.

This is the story of one of those businesses.

Craig Alexander opened a wholesale coffee company called Happy Monday Coffee, and planned open a small café, but that’s all been put on hold thanks to the spread of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 outbreak.

“I was halfway through opening a business when all of this hit. My [current] wholesale coffee business is called Happy Monday Coffee. We picked up enough customers that we decided to open up a little café to represent Happy Monday.  That’s all up in the air right now,” said Alexander. “We’re a small company. Business has slowed down, and we’re hurting badly from it.”

The uncertainty is strong, but Alexander is working to get his customers the products they have come to enjoy.

“The [coronavirus pandemic] has kind of decimated the hospitality business. The people lower on the totem pole are totally out of a job, those are the people that I feel for. I still supply Hero [Coffee Bar], they’re one of my main customers, but every single one of my customers is either an office or a restaurant that is either shut down or barely running right now,” said Alexander.

Alexander entered the coffee business as an investment, but quickly fell in love with it. It’s about more than just the coffee for this small business owner.

“I liked seeing the feel-good of the exchange. In a lot of sales, you have a winner and a loser sometimes. And with coffee, for me, there were two winners: a coffee and a smile, for a smile and two dollars. That’s what I fell in love with,” said Alexander “That, combined with fueling people’s day; kind of being that first thing they come to before they go kick ass wherever they’re at for the rest of the day. I like being part of that.”     

So far, Alexander hasn’t had to let any of his employees go, but they’re working on reduced hours. 

“If it goes another month or two months, everyone has a breaking point financially. It’s all [a matter of] how long you can last,” he said. “They call every day: ‘Is there anything we can do?’ I can’t wait to get everybody back on full force. Everyone’s being understanding, but again, there’s a breaking point on all of this.”

Alexander wonders, though, if there’s more can be done to help struggling business owners who own property.

“I feel like the world has frozen for the past three weeks to a month, so kind of what we need is if  [property] tax payments could freeze along [with that]. Any type of extension to make up for the pause in income everyone’s experiencing,” said Alexander.

He doesn’t own property in the state of Illinois, by choice. 

“I’m not an expert on property taxes, but I know how high [they are]. I’m just not interested. I rent [my] spaces and I rent the place that I live, and I plan not to retire here,” he said. “My small business has always been about freedom, the freedom to live my life and do the things I want to do: provide a good product of value to neighborhoods that need them. We roast our own coffee and out prices are approachable, and I think that’s why we’ve found success and our neighborhoods support us. Because we’re there for them.”

As for business and the pandemic, Alexander says he’s not panicking, and he’s hopeful.

“I don’t know if it’s the American in me, but I just believe we’re going to figure out a way to not let all of our businesses close down.”