Five years of change in the Canal District
Renee Diaz
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The Queen’s Cups just celebrated our five-year anniversary since moving to the Canal District in 2017. Since it was such a whirlwind time when we first moved, I am not sure I ever dreamed of what business, or my life, would look like five years after we opened our doors. It can be scary to envision the future and over the course of that time, so much has changed.
When we first moved to the Canal District, there was no such thing as the Worcester Red Sox or the Worcester Public Market. There was a farmer’s market on Saturday mornings at Crompton Collective, where you would have to park in a puddle in the parking lot full of holes. There was, thankfully, a restaurant supply store you could run to if you were in a pinch, which during the early days I always seemed to run out of what I needed. There were a few more bars than now where you could stop in for a drink after work. The original Steam coffee shop was open at the Worcester Ice Center, which was the biggest thing at the time, and my staff and I loved to get acai bowls and smoothies in the morning.
The restaurants in the area were open more often and offered lunch, and I was eating Smokestack Urban BBQ wings and everything from the Maddi's Cookery & TapHouse menu way more than I would like to admit. I could run down to Nkd Waxing, Lashes & Makeup for a quick eyebrow wax and make it back to work before the next rush would hit. It was just different then than what it is now. I can imagine this is exactly how it felt to former patrons that would visit Weintraub’s, Widoff’s and all the nostalgic businesses that paved the way for us.
In 2019, we topped our previous yearly sales at $1.2 million for the year. Not too bad for a little dream I had in my parent’s kitchen. I’ve touched on this before about what a disaster a lot of that time was, but looking back now, it was also a time of major growth. It was intense, though, and I had almost 30 employees and our doors were open six days a week for most of the day. As 2020 started, we were off to a great start again, and I was looking forward to possibly beating our yearly sales as I felt we had finally worked through the growing pains. And then, the pandemic happened. Although I could touch on the negative aspect of COVID-19, I will say many positives came out of it for me personally as well as professionally.
But there is no denying the world and neighborhood we inhabit is drastically different. Recently, I was having a conversation with friends when a fellow business owner mentioned their business is not doing 2019 numbers, so they were apprehensive about a potential decision. This comment made me wonder if any of us will ever be our 2019 businesses again.
When do we accept who we are now, knowing the chances of us ever being those businesses again may be a distant memory? It is okay to be realistic when thinking of my own business. For us to reach that level again, we would have to resort back to being open six days a week, having additional staff and ultimately dealing with more waste and issues we currently don’t have. I love being with my family and being present for my daughter. I enjoy my employees can have a life outside of work and seem refreshed when they come into work. I appreciate being able to sleep a little more and not feel so run down all the time. Of course, the sales we once had were amazing, but over the past five years, I have realized that money is everything, but it is nothing at the same time.
As I reflect on the past five years, it is undeniable that life is vastly different. The Canal District is not comparable to what it was when we first signed our lease and opened our doors. We managed to survive and navigate our way through a global pandemic and are still making adaptations as we go. I have come to the realization business is all about ebbs and flows. We may never be the business we were in the past, but I love who we are now. In another five years, I will look back at even more changes and hope to have the same appreciation as I do now.
Renee Diaz is the owner of Worcester bakery The Queen's Cups.
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