Six days.
That’s all Grant Coleman had of the “old normal” before W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice issued his stay-at-home executive order on March 24, and now he’s dealing with his version of the “new normal.”
“That’s because it’s different for everyone,” the Mugshots owner said. “We’re all dealing with what this is supposed to be.
“We had a great first week, too, and I was really overwhelmed by the support we received. I was very glad to see the reception we received. And the people from the Health Plan supported us, too, and that was what we were hoping.
“We knew we had to be ready when we opened,” he continued. “But we really did get crushed that first week, and I was very optimistic about the future. But then, something called COVID-19 came into play, and no one expected that.”
1109 Main Street
Coleman and his wife, Devan, have chased this dream literally for years.
Grant has investigated many properties over the past five years, and once committed to the former home of the Keg and Kraut in East Wheeling. That development was halted, however, when the city of Wheeling reclaimed the property in 2019 because of missed benchmarks. Biggy’s Pizza is now operating on the corner of Wood and McColloch streets.
“That location didn’t plan out because the development wasn’t going the way we expected them to,” Coleman said. “So, then we had to find another location, and we are very thankful that the location is across the street from the Health Plan and really close to several other businesses.
“Gabe Hayes owns our building, and he’s a friend of mine. We’ve known each other for a lot of years,” he said. “He knew I was looking for a spot, and he asked me if I would be interested. Ironically, before I knew it was available, I also thought that it should be renovated for something like what we are doing, and here we are.”
Coffee, Yes, But Much More
Wraps, salads, paninis. Well, four wraps, in fact, and five paninis, and vegan options, too.
Oh, and the new Health Plan Headquarters resting directly across Main Street with 400 employees? Let’s just say the blender used for frozen drinks is having a tough summer.
“Not only are the Health Plan employees huge for us at Mugshots, but those folks go to a lot of the other places in downtown like Tito’s, Tacoholix, MMM Popcorn, and the others,” Coleman said. “Bringing the Health Plan to downtown Wheeling was a great thing, and I believe that we’ll all be fine once this thing is over.
“I know at Mugshots we had a great June, but July has been slower, and that’s because of the weather,” he said. “But that’s why we have been promoting our frozen drinks, and we’ve been selling a ton of them because they are cool, but they also have that caffeine that people want during the workday.”
March 2020
Schools closed. The testing center at Wheeling Park was erected and staffed by employees of Wheeling Hospital. Everything was getting canceled.
It’s not just a lost summer here in the Upper Ohio Valley, but across the country, too. It started, though, with the cancellation of the remainder of the WVSSAC Girls Basketball Tournament in Charleston, and now re-entry plans for local districts include the option for remote learning since the coronavirus has tightened its grip since the Fourth of July.
“I remember there were rumors that the stay-at-home order was coming from Gov. Justice and business did dwindle that Friday, and then we ended up losing 90 percent of the business when everyone was working from home instead of in downtown Wheeling,” Coleman explained. “Since the order was lifted, it’s been a climb back up, and we’re doing OK now.
“It taught us some lessons that we didn’t expect to have to learn that early in the business, but we definitely learned them, and that’s what is allowing us to get back up to where we want to be,” he added. “Hopefully, we can all get through this thing together while staying as safe as we can. I just want to get to the other side of this pandemic so we can see where we can go from there.”
