ELLISVILLE, Mo. — Local small business owners have been under great stress during the pandemic trying to stay in business. COVID-19 restrictions and shutdowns didn’t make it easy.
The Donut Palace in Ellisville got creative in its efforts.
“We are just a fried, delicious place to come get a treat,” owner Ann Saladin told 5 On Your Side.
The shop is getting busy again.
“So happy to have families in here,” she said.
Everyone coming in with a sweet tooth.
“It’s doughnuts. It’s a happy purchase,” Saladin laughed.
But Donut Palace wasn’t always a happy place during the pandemic. They had to make cutbacks.
“We had some staff that we had to layoff temporarily,” she said.
The smaller staff led to increase stress.
“It was overwhelming,” she said.
The shop also lost a large portion of its revenue.
“Gas stations, hospitals, business accounts, churches, schools – that’s about 40% of our weekly business. We lost all of that,” she said.
So, to make up for the lost dough… Saladin got creative.
“A lot of it was flying by the seat of our pants,” she explained.
They added a curbside service. They also saved people the drive to the shop by taking the doughnuts straight to them.
“Neighborhoods would place up to 80 preorders, 80 individual orders that we would take down. That really helped us to thread water,” she said.
In February, the shop got a huge life-preserver.
“The phone call was amazing,” she said.
The call came from Barstool Sports. The social media site offered to lend them a hand.
“That moment is pretty surreal,” said Saladin.
Help, ingenuity and sweat equity are why they are still in business making the doughnuts.
“You do what you gotta do to keep the doors open, pay the bills,” she said.
Saladin is a busy mother of six with kids ranging in age from 19 to 3. But she doesn’t mind doing the extra work.
“We always say busy is good,” she said.
Good for business and for their peace of mind.
“Each month is getting closer to normal,” she said.
Saladin has also been community minded. The Donut Palace has donated thousands of doughnuts for healthcare workers at local hospitals during the pandemic.