INDIANAPOLIS — Grabbing a cup of coffee on the way to work used to be common, but with many now working from home, coffee is coming from the kitchen. But, the staff at "Coffee and Pizza Junkiez" are working every day to keep up with the new normal.
"Honestly, here lately business has actually picked up on the coffee side," Jasan R. Julius, the owner of Coffee and Pizza Junkiez, said. "We just installed our drive through speaker to try and actually speed the service along because we saw the increase in volume on the coffee side of the businesses."
The uncommon pairing of coffee and pizza has proved to do well even during a pandemic.
Julius says for some, what he's serving is indeed essential.
"We're essential comforts. When they took it to essential businesses, it was like OK, we are a food and drink," Julius said. "It's been letting people know that we offer comfort food and drinks, and I have done a certain amount of advertising and social media just to let people know that we are in fact open and there's been a huge response on social media from people being appreciative that we are actually still open."
Julius says before the coronavirus, 95% of his business was already coming from the drive-through, now that traffic has only increased. It is even forcing him to hire more workers.
"My payroll is through the roof because I've had to authorize a bunch of overtime to actually keep up with the demand," Julius said.
Much like stimulus checks and small business assistance is a much-needed jolt during this unexpected halt to the economy, Julius is exploring the possibility of loans to help cover employee pay, but may not need too much help.
In the long run, Julius is optimistic that the economy will come roaring back.
"This is like a tornado. Everybody is hunkering down, and you're not truly going to know the damage until you come out, and there is going to be damage," Julius said. "I'm an eternal optimist, I am a student of history, and America has really come back after some really hard times."
You can find information about support for small businesses, plus unemployment benefits and companies that are hiring right now at hiringhoosiers.com.
