WILLIAMSBURG — Melissa Krueger would never describe herself as a lifesaving hero — unlike the mine-sniffing rat she symbolically adopted in Cambodia earlier this year — but in some ways she’s performing business heroics by keeping her 16-year coffee shop going during the toughest year anyone has experienced.
The owner of Elbow Room Cafe and Roasters in Williamsburg says the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything about how the Main Street business operates — limited hours, employee reductions, an on-and-off-again café with reduced operating days, and coffee deliveries to people’s homes (by the owner herself), to name a few.
Through it all, however, the Burgy establishment carries on thanks to Krueger’s ability to adapt on the fly and, she says, to her loyal customer base.
“My regulars are like family,” Krueger says. “I feel incredibly supported by this community.”
The upheaval started in March, when Elbow Room had to close down the cafe side of the business and pivot to selling its roasted coffee. Since then she’s been the business’s only employee, although her partner has helped out in the evenings.
In June, Krueger reopened the cafe with a reduced menu, although it was only open three days a week instead of five.
“We ran the cafe through a window,” said Krueger.
This continued until Oct. 31, after which Krueger pivoted back to focusing on selling beans and ground coffee.
Currently, Elbow Room is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. People can go into the store to pick up ground coffee or beans, as well as burritos that Krueger recently started offering again.
“So far they’re selling really well,” said Krueger.
Some who are not comfortable entering the shop order ahead, and Krueger brings the coffee outside, while others get coffee delivered to their homes by Krueger.
Krueger said that the coffee roasting business is sustainable for her in the pandemic, and that she’s not in danger of closing. Indeed, she signed a five-year lease this year for her 49 Main St. location, where the Elbow Room has been located since 2018.
Early on in the pandemic, Krueger began to offer items like flour, toilet paper and yeast to her customers, which she was able to get through her wholesale channels. And while that portion of the business has lessened, she still offers some items to her customers.
One thing that Krueger won’t be doing anytime soon is traveling, an activity she enjoys with her longtime partner, Mary Gorski.
“She’s super supportive of my adventures and endeavors with the business,” said Krueger.
Last January, however, the two were traveling in Cambodia, where they were able to tour a facility run by APOPO, a Belgian nonprofit that runs the “Hero Rat” initiative in which African giant pouched rats are trained to detect land mines across South East Asia and Africa. When searching for mines, the rats are on leashes.
“They’re able to detect the unexploded mines without setting them off,” said Krueger.
Krueger described touring the facility as “really cool” and afterward they symbolically adopted a rat by the name of Magawa through a donation. A few months later, Magawa became the first rat to receive the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals Gold Medal, and was the subject of news reports worldwide.
According to APOPO’s website, Magawa discovered 39 land mines and 28 items of unexploded ordinance, as of September, in his career detecting land mines, clearing more than 141,000 square meters of land.
Magawa was presented a gold medal this year from the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, a British charity, for lifesaving bravery.
Krueger and Gorski’s visit to the facility was in early January, and later in the month they were in Bangkok Airport and hearing reports of a new disease called COVID-19. Because masking to prevent disease is common in that part of the world, the couple had an early experience of masking.
Krueger said she has no plans to travel again until the COVID-19 vaccines are widely adopted.
“We need to take this seriously and be smart and be kind humans wherever we can,” said Krueger.
She also said that her customers have meant everything to her during the pandemic.
One of Krueger’s newer customers is Jenny Chandler, of Haydenville, who started getting coffee from her a few weeks ago and is “becoming a regular.”
“We’re happy to get our coffee here,” said Chandler. “And coffee for family and friends afar as well.”
By contrast, Therese Brigley, of Chesterfield, has been a customer of Krueger’s since Krueger moved the business to Williamsburg.
“I come down here every week to buy my coffee,” said Brigley.
Brigley is the director of Davenport Childcare Center and Preschool, a nonprofit in Chesterfield. And she said that Krueger has helped her fundraise by selling coffee to her wholesale, which is then sold to raise money for her nonprofit.
“She’s a wonderful, wonderful community asset,” said Brigley.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.