Reopening In The Near Future

An open letter from our CEO regarding the possibility of reopening dining rooms in the near future.

After many of the hardest days and weeks any of us have ever gone through and having to suspend the majority of our business operations due to COVID-19, we now have been given some clarity as to the ability to finally reopen our doors to the public. Weeks ago that’s the very news we were praying for and now that we have it, many of us while obviously excited to get back to what we love, are also wrestling with feelings of uncertainty and mixed emotions as well.
We’ve heard from half of our guests that are still very concerned about the current pandemic and worry this may be too soon, and we’ve heard from the other half that they have moved past the current situation and are ready to start working towards rebuilding the economy and getting back to some sort of normal.
As a business, we ABSOLUTELY need to open at some point and we believe it’s actually a responsibility and expectation that businesses in our community be instrumental in helping to create that path back to ‘normal’, whatever that may look like, is something none of us take lightly.
I can tell you that all of us have been in extensive contact with local government, Fraser Health Authority, WorkSafeBC, BCRFA and many others to make sure we have the very best information, real time, in order to make the very best decisions on what is expected and anything we can do to further protect our staff, our guests and our business. Experience is everything, from the minute our guests walk in to the minute they leave, the vibe we create is an important part of our business and we want to make sure we continue to provide the best experience and atmosphere we worked so hard to create in the safest ways possible for everyone.
More than anything I’d like to extend the sincerest of THANK YOU’S to every single one of you. From day one of the closure, which certainly the most challenging time we’ve been faced with, so many in our community showed up.  Showed up to support through delivery, through Gift Card purchases, Meal Kits, or even by just sending supportive messages. All of it helped carry us thought this difficult and uncertain time.  So THANK YOU all again, we couldn’t have done it without you.
Also a very special THANK YOU to all the amazing people at Fraser Health, the Provincial Health office, WorkSafe, all our Healthcare Professionals, First Responders and so many others that have worked so incredibly hard to keep all of us safe and even get our Province to this point that we can actually start looking at re-opening. What a bar the Province of British Columbia has set for the rest of the world!
So while we certainly plan and look forward to opening soon, we don’t have a concrete opening date as of yet. We want to take our time and ensure we’ve explored every option possible to bring you, our guests, the very best and safest experience possible.  That’s what you deserve and that’s what you should expect. It’s what we expect from ourselves. We made a decision to close the business together as a team, as a community, and we’ll make the decision to re-open the same way.
PS. If any of you can make time, please join us this Thursday May 21st at 8pm on @wearejrg as I go LIVE again with Matt from Search + Rescue Marketing. We’ll continue our conversation about what a re-open will look like and try to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Please try to tune in or send us any questions through email or DM prior and we’ll try to answer as many as we can.
Thanks again everyone. Truly appreciate you all! ❤️
Ryan Moreno.
Now let’s take a moment to recognize some of the individuals who have kept this company going through the pandemic and others who we will be able to welcome back very soon. These photos were taken at our Annual JRG Awards Night where we recognize the people who have made the biggest impact on the company, our guests and our industry. This was also less than 2 weeks prior to learning about the implications of COVID-19 and what that could mean for us. Without these people, our businesses would not have been able to offer take-out, delivery, community partnerships, new offerings, Meal Kits, Cocktail Kits, Pop-Up Garden Centers and Pop-Up Krause Berry Farms Shops. The innovation and ability to pivot is inspiring and I say it all the time and I’ll say it again, we truly have the Best Team.