Business owners work through pandemic

WADESBORO — Operating a small, local business is challenging, even under the best of circumstances. Trying to run a coffee shop in the middle of a pandemic can be daunting.

“It’s been pretty crazy,” said Kyle Poplin, who co-owns Speckled Paw Coffee with his wife, Myra. “Early on there was a lack of guidance from public officials about how to stay in business and stay safe. After the pandemic had been around for a while, there was a lack of guidance from public officials about how to stay in business and stay safe. Today, there’s still a lack of guidance from public officials about how to stay in business and stay safe.”

“The best advice we’ve gotten has been from the Anson County Chamber of Commerce (ACCC),” said Poplin. “Shelby Emrich, President/CEO of ACCC, has been doing a great job letting members know what assistance is available – and we’ve spent a lot of time talking to fellow business owners about things like the best way to do takeout and curbside, what your liabilities are as a business owner, what to do about folks who don’t wear masks, etc. We’ve basically been making it up as we go along.”

“Our biggest decision was whether we should remain open,” said Poplin. “Both at our shop in Wadesboro and in Mt. Gilead. We were, according to the inexact guidelines that were issued by the government, allowed to open, but should we? We didn’t want to enable the spread of disease. In the end, we reduced our hours, embraced social distancing, stocked up on cleaning supplies, and stayed open. “

The Poplins have used some of the downtime caused by the pandemic to unveil a new line of products.

“The more we thought about it, the more we became convinced we should start selling candy – old school candy, high-end candy and things we ourselves love to eat,” said Poplin. “It just made sense: coffee, ice cream, and candy. All three are delicious and fun. Plus, we love candy. So, any candy we don’t sell we get to eat. Further plans include expanding our chocolate-covered lineup. We eventually want to chocolate-cover everything.”

In addition to selling candy, the Speckled Paw has it’s eyes set on opening another store in the future.

“We had planned to open a small Speckled Paw shop in downtown Rockingham in early April,” said Poplin. “We delayed opening that shop just in time to avoid all the ‘rona downtime, but we certainly didn’t forget about it. We’re going to get that shop open in the next few weeks, and we’ve got really high hopes for it. Rockingham rocks. In fact, we’re looking for a manager even as we speak. “