Since the start of the pandemic, businesses everywhere, including Charlottesville, have had to make changes and adaptations to keep their staff and customers safe.

 I interviewed Mary Humpfrey, the owner of Cottonwood Fabric and Quilt Shop who I worked for over the summer. Cottonwood had to make a lot of adjustments at the beginning of the pandemic. Many staff members had left as the pandemic began, so it was just Mary and Susan, another employee at Cottonwood, running the entire store. In addition to that, to keep everyone as safe as possible, they helped all of their customers outside of the store. From bringing tables and chairs outside to putting fabric samples in all the windows, the store was changed and improved to make doing curbside service easier. Mary said, “We just kind of adjusted as we went.” 

A surprising upside to the pandemic for Cottonwood was how busy they were. Many people were getting back into sewing, since there was plenty of time for revisiting old hobbies during quarantine. In addition to that, many people were (and still are) sewing masks for themselves and others. Mary is currently preparing to open the inside of the store to the public, but is first taking precautions to make sure people will be able to socially distance while shopping in Cottonwood. 

I also interviewed Amy Stewart, an instructor at Yoga Cville, who was my neighbor for a long time. Yoga Cville, like many yoga studios, switched to zoom yoga classes at the beginning of the pandemic. Some of the yoga instructors teach from their homes, while others teach from the studio. Teaching yoga over Zoom was a hard adjustment, but instructors and customers have grown to enjoy it. One unexpected upside of teaching yoga virtually is that people who live far away from Charlottesville can now attend class. Amy said “Over time many students have slowly made their own yoga studios at home, buying more equipment and dedicating more space in their homes to yoga. “

Charlottesville’s community has been greatly impacted by the Corona virus pandemic, especially its businesses. It’s now more important than ever to shop at your favorite local business, or go to new ones to show them support during this weird time.