Power was out in the busy area of Leetes Island and East Main Street on Monday, forcing some businesses to close. Willoughby Coffee was among the many businesses interrupted, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.
“This is our busiest time of the year. Our busiest week of the year,” explained Dan Hebert, who manages the company’s e-commerce.
Turning to a generator, their staff got creative. The company has four locations, but the Branford shop is the main processing area.
On Monday, despite the power outage, the staff was determined to fulfill holiday orders.
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“I have my phone as a hotspot because I get a little bit of cellular data. We have iPads we use as a register system,” Hebert said.
Working in a dimly lit room, this team packaged product and hand wrote shopping labels - all to meet a fast-approaching deadline.
“It feels like we’d be letting people down if we didn’t give them presents that they wanted to get to their loved ones this year,” Hebert said.
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Fortunately for Willoughby, the power was restored by midafternoon. However, they do have some catching up to do.
The owner said they have hundreds of shipments that needed to be mailed by Monday.
