One restaurant group in the D.C. area wants to stock your pantry — and is even willing to bring you a couple of rolls of toilet paper while it’s at it.
The move comes as the Neighborhood Restaurant Group looks to keep its remaining workers employed following a sharp downturn in business because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It has launched a new entity: Neighborhood Provisions.
In addition to offering delivery of meals, beer, wine and — where allowed — cocktails and liquor, Neighborhood Provisions is selling pantry staples, such as flour, eggs and butter.
“Everybody’s cooking at home right now,” said Neighborhood Restaurant Group President Michael Babin. “There’s a lot of things that’s hard to get.”
That, of course, includes toilet paper, which Neighborhood Provisions is delivering up to two rolls per order.
Like the rest of the industry, Babin’s group, which includes 16 restaurants in the D.C. area, has been hit hard by closures. He estimates they experienced a revenue drop of 96%, and that about 740 people had to be laid off.
With the expanded delivery business, Babin said he hopes to keep paying the 120 people who remain on the payroll and give jobs to others as well.
“We’re keeping the delivery in-house, so it’s our own team making the deliveries, which is enabling us to start actually bringing people back to work,” Babin said.
“There’s no profit here. Every dollar that this generates is going to support our staff through this.”
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The pantry items must be ordered 24 hours in advance. Menu items also are available from some of the group’s restaurants, including Hazel, Iron Gate, Birch & Barley and The Evening Star, as well as from its butcher shop and bakery.
Right now, the delivery area includes the D.C., Alexandria, Arlington and parts of Fairfax County.
