DARTMOUTH — With limited hours and staff, People’s Pressed has officially opened its second location in Padanaram Village, an addition to its downtown New Bedford cold-pressed juice shop and eatery.
The South Dartmouth location had a soft opening June 5, over two months after owner and founder Amanda Desrosiers planned to open. “We didn’t want to be overwhelmed,” Desrosiers said about the quiet opening with a short staff.
To reduce costs and waste, both locations are currently offering the most popular menu items via takeout, and with a small seating capacity are not letting people through the doors yet.
“Our footprint in the shop is just so small that our capacity, it’s just not enough yet to make it worth allowing people in,” Desrosiers said about the Padanaram Village shop, located on Elm Street to the left of the Sail Loft. That location has two tables in the back of the juice bar, accessible through a parking lot as opposed to walking through the shop.
With a menu displayed outside, customers order and pay at a table at the front door or can call ahead and pay when they pick up their order. The New Bedford location has a similar system of ordering at a window on the Acushnet Avenue side of the building. The New Bedford site also has an online ordering system which is currently not available in Dartmouth, but Desrosiers hopes to add it.
The hours in New Bedford are Monday and Wednesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Dartmouth hours are Thursday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. She hopes to expand to seven days a week with extended hours by the end of the month. “Every week we’re trying to add more," she said.
Seven people, or less than half the staff, are working less than part time, Desrosiers said.
Even in downtown New Bedford, there’s not enough business to bring back the full staff.
“The majority of our business were people working downtown and they’re just not there,” Desrosiers said, as people continue to work from home or work different hours in an office.
Some down time has allowed for experimenting with menu items and Desrosiers recently made a raw vegan cheesecake. “I’d love to introduce more items like that in the future,” she said. “That was really popular.”
On the financial side, Desrosiers said she was able to defer loans for new equipment in the new location for a few months and didn’t have to pay rent in New Bedford during the months that the business was closed. She applied for and was granted funds from the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan that she can lean on, but hopes she doesn’t have to.
On Tuesdays, People’s Pressed delivers online orders placed the previous Monday by 6 a.m. for a minimum of six juices. That system has been successful, Desrosiers said. There have been issues with getting late deliveries of fresh produce to the shop to make juices, so that can limit menu items. But ordering juices and cleanses in bulk for delivery ensures that people get what they want.
Referring to the weekly orders placed for delivery, Desrosiers said, “They've been a life saver for us, especially in the early months.” She’s looking forward to growing her business rather than sustaining it, she said.