St. Cloud Business Owner Hopeful For Future

(KNSI) – A year into the coronavirus pandemic and downtown St. Cloud business owners say they’re optimistic about the future.

KNSI News caught up with Jules’ Bistro owner Donella Westphal who said the past 12 months haven’t been easy.

“It’s been a brutal year, with lots of mixed blessings and challenges. I think we got through it with a lot of duct tape and paper clips and a whole lot of love from people who appreciate what we do here.”

She said the constant changes caused by COVID-19 were a challenge.

“Probably the most challenging part of the year was that it was a new game with all new rules, and we weren’t even sure what game we’re playing. Hard to prepare for, hard to strategize for, and every day brought something new. And it was hard to know which direction the next challenge was going to come from.”

Jake Judd (KNSI)

As the long dark winter turns to spring, Donella says she thinks there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

“Death is not outside our door. We are very hopeful about the future and very hopeful about things improving and restrictions being lifted as vaccinations become more prevalent.”

She says they wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for all the support.

“We just really felt like the community carried us through this pandemic. And we’re incredibly grateful. It’s been so much fun being open for inside dining and being able to reconnect with friends and regulars. And I feel like there’s a very new kind of energy downtown right now too.”

During the pandemic, businesses came up with creative ways to help the community.

Jules’ Bistro launched its Kindness Cake Campaign in the middle of the pandemic.

The campaign supports a different charity every month with a special cake. The purchase of that cake or slices of that cake benefits the charity.

This month, it’s the Boys and Girls Club of Central Minnesota, and the cake is a strawberry lemonade cake.

She says business is as good as it can be, and they’re doing a great job of filling tables, and people are making reservations. Jules’ Bistro is also excited about outside dining coming back.

Now that the restaurant has made it through the worst of the pandemic, their biggest problem is getting fully staffed.

Donella says almost every downtown restaurant is looking for workers.

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