Well, this has certainly been a mentally and emotionally draining week. Besides every aspect of all of our lives being upended, we at WhichCraft had to reduce hours for most of our employees down to zero. We haven’t formally laid anyone off, as we love our staff and will (hopefully) continue to employ them (when) things get back to “normal,” whatever that means going forward. Our heads and hearts go out to those more acutely affected than we are: people who are already sick, or who are in the most crucial potential affected populations. We can get through this by being smart, keeping our distance, and supporting each other.

Our plan until May 1st based on Mayor Adler’s order to close all dine-in restaurants and bars is as follows:

• • Packaged beer, wine and cider to-go is ok
  • Coffee to-go is ok, though no personal cups/mugs
  • Crowlers to-go are ok (though no filling of glass growlers)
  • Sandwiches to-go while we can still source ingredients, though this may be suspended based on supply chain issues
  • No Tacodeli tacos for the forseeable future
  • 8 am until 9 pm operating hours all days of the week
  • Only one staff member in the store at a time, to both minimize person-to-person interaction and expense
  • We’re asking customers to wait for prepared items (coffee, sandwiches, crowlers) outside, where they can keep a safe 6 foot distance between themselves and other customers & staff
  • No more than FIVE customers in store at any given time for the same reason as above
  • No customer use of the bathrooms
  • We’re of course following all cleaning, sanitizing, hand-washing and cleanliness protocols laid out by the CDC and Austin Public Health. We’re even sanitizing your credit cards and pens for you! (CC only by the way… no cash)

The nature of our packaged beer assortment doesn’t easily allow for call-in or online orders, just based on the quantity of items we have in stock. So that’s why we’re still allowing customers inside to shop for beer but being smart about waiting outside when applicable.

WhichCraft Mgmnt has offered to pay our employees fully through the end of this current week (Sund 3/22) for the shifts that they would have worked this week but couldn’t, inclusive of both hourly wages AND expected average historical tip amounts. BUT please know that any and all tips you provide (obviously) go directly to the employees, and any additional $$$ you tip this week we immensely appreciate and are extremely grateful for.

Also, a gigantic thank you to our customers who have already tipped generously in the past week or so. Your kindness has not gone unnoticed and we thank you for your generosity in this uncertain time.

You’ve read every opinion on earth about this scenario so I don’t feel the need to add my thoughts. Just know that WhichCraft will continue to operate in this tough time and continue to be a resource for craft beer lovers in Austin.

See y’all soon–

Jody Reyes,

Founder & CEO, WhichCraft