MILFORD – For the three owners of Union Coffee Company at 42 South St., Milford, parlaying their established brand back into the mainstream during COVID-19 has been a challenge, but David Cianci, Wookie Jones and Sam Delay have said their success really does amount to a hill of coffee beans – lots and lots of them.

A grassroots company, they were forced to shut down in March, along with everyone else. But thanks to Jones’ finesse with their website, buying coffee in the shop transitioned to a popular and successful internet campaign to attract “coffee subscribers.”

“I would divide what we’ve been doing into two stages,” Cianci said. “There’s how we kept it alive during complete quarantine and complete shut down; and what we’re doing now to restart it.”

They closed the café completely in March, thinking that was the safest thing to do for the community and for their employees.

“Still ’til this day, there is still conflicting information out there,” Cianci explained. “But it was even more uncertain back in March, which is why we made that decision. And we had to pivot overnight to say how can we keep any kind of revenue coming in? That was mostly Wookie, because he does our website and he does our marketing.”

Union Coffee roasts their own coffee and they have managed distribution, but at a much smaller volume until the pandemic crashed many a business.

“It was always lower, lower volume but because Wookie promoted it and everybody was stuck at home, the demand for coffee shot way, way up,” Cianci said. “We started offering free local delivery over $30 within a ten mile radius. So, I’ve been driving around since quarantine, in our little van, bringing coffee beans to people’s doorsteps and also shipping through the mail.”

The cafés that Union Coffee did supply who did not shut down continued to place coffee bean orders.

“If you think of it as two different revenue streams, people buying from the café, and then the roastery, the only revenue stream we had was roasting and distributing coffee, thanks to Wookie getting the word out that we could still get people coffee.”

Cianci said the core of the Union Coffee brand is about community, about people being together, and being in a shared space for open dialogue and conversation.

“Our favorite thing about being in this business is people from different paths of life cross here, and somehow have something in common,” Cianci said. “And they take something positive away from that interaction. Community and distancing are practically opposites. So, trying to reopen and still maintain that value with all the regulations is tough.”

Jones said that being able to make a quick pivot and quickly get those coffee subscriptions to customers was key.

“There was a lot of local support in the community,” Jones said. “People saw local businesses like us hurting, and in our case, they needed coffee because they were at home. Dave was roasting like crazy. And we thought this would be like two weeks. Maybe a month. Three months later and we’re opening at 50 percent.

Cafés can’t operate at that ratio. There’s not enough profit margin there.”

The first month, Jones said they were fully able to cover rent and wanted to keep business going. But, he added, “People see the café open and perhaps they want to drop their subscriptions. We’re open but it’s not like we’re super profitable right now.”

While Delay was busy brewing coffee inside, Cianci and Jones agreed that the social aspect of their café is a lost art form when you have to mandate social distancing and wearing masks.

“We’re a social place,” Jones pointed out. “That’s the different between us and say, Starbucks. You come into our place for the social experience. We’re not a quick drive-through on your way to work. We try to support that with curbside but that’s not our bread and butter.”

Jones said the proof will be in the pudding, as the company experiences a “treading water stage.”

“What keeps me optimistic is through all this and the shutdown since March, has been the community support,” Cianci shared. “People are asking, ‘How can I still get your product? How can I still support you?’ All through that, people signed up for subscriptions, they signed up for delivery, bought our coffee through the mail. That was all great for some revenue, but what the message to us was, ‘We still want you around. We can’t come in and buy our coffee. We can’t hang out with you and talk. But we’re going to make this purchase because on the other side, at the end of this, we still want that community center that is your coffee shop.’ That meant a lot to me.”

Cianci said friends from all over the country were buying their coffee, which made the three owners somewhat hopeful.

And now, people are returning to the café for their cup of java, to sit outside and read, work on their computers or just hang out.

“They do curbside, which isn’t ideal, but people are trying to support us,” Cianci said. “They’re telling us they still want us here. The modifications that we’ve had to make to comply with the state, we’ve passed that down to our customers. And they’re just not used to dealing with this. People feel like home here and now the minute they walk in our door, we have to say, ‘Please put a mask on.'”

Cianci called the whole process, “antithetical,” and for their customers whom they have known for years, getting reacquainted with the owners and staff of Union Coffee under these circumstances has been a bit surreal.

“I feel rude,” Cianci said. “But it’s what we have to do.”

The tables and the layout was awkward as well, Jones explained, because their customers don’t necessarily plant themselves in one spot but rather move and mingle around.

“Our customers bounce around and get to know other people,” Jones commented. “Now, it’s ‘sit at a table six feet apart and you can’t interact.”

Cianci and Jones said most people respect the rules that every business in New Hampshire must comply to, but Cianci said the negative interactions with customers – which are rare – “always stick in your craw. Those are the ones that you remember.”

“Ninety-nine percent always comply,” Cianci continued. “But this has become a political argument about what these regulations are. Some people believe that they are making a statement because they decide that they don’t’ want to or don’t have to wear a mask.”

Cianci said that it’s weird being a popular, local hangout that now has to remind some of their clientele to don a mask.

“For us to project that on someone,” Cianci said, “they almost take it personally. Those interactions have been rare, but they do stick out.”

Cianci said because people can’t just hand over a couple of dollars and receive their cup of coffee on the simplest terms frustrates and angers some customers.

“And they don’t know where to channel that frustration,” Cianci said. “Sometimes that’s on us.”

While the necessity to order curbside, social distance or wear a mask are part of our new norm, there are those who don’t accept the new rules of living in a safe society.

“It is frustrating, but we’re all going through it,” Cianci stated. “So, I guess those reactions are understandable and I would interpret that as misdirected frustration.”

“That’s always been part of our success though,” Jones interjected. “The variety of people and their backgrounds all get along. And now sometimes it feels so divisive.”

Since there is no coronavirus how-to manual, erring on caution rather than not makes the most sense for the Union Coffee proprietors.

“I can’t say enough about the community support,” Cianci said. “People were giving me tips, leaving me baked goods. Those customers that want us around really let you know, more than just buying the product. When I do a home delivery, they’ll give me a thank you note, or their kids will draw a message or picture in chalk on their driveway.”

The people have spoken: they want their coffee – Union Coffee. And as the company shifts in additional direction by adding staff, there goes another expense and another challenge unto itself.

“Some staffers decided to go in another direction,” Cianci said. “Our hours are limited. So, the staff’s hours are as well.”

A small business loan helped Union Coffee through a rough spell, thanks, Cianci said, to the state of New Hampshire and the federal government.

“We were doing everything we could to stay afloat,” Jones said. “That is a life saver. Credit where credit is due.”

Now that another hurdle has been overcome, Cianci and Jones said their next move is unknown.

“With the uncertainty of this, and whether we’ll have to shut down in the fall if there is a resurgence,” Cianci said, “it’s almost pointless to make long-term plans. It’s almost like we’re in survival mode and taking it day to day, week to week. Yes, conceptually, we want to get back to full capacity. We want that close-quarters sense of community and have everybody talking, literally rubbing elbows. That’s what we want.”