As fall approached , Nomada welcomed customers inside to pick up their orders and , after vaccinations became readily available , opened for indoor seating .
“ Because we were still a new business pre-pandemic , we were not resistant to changing everything if needed ,” Schulenberg says . “ However , we did not have the capital to keep us afloat , like more established businesses . Government grants gave us the needed capital at several crucial junctures in 2020 , and customers loyally and generously supported us . Without all this we would not have survived .”
Oglebay
As isolation gripped the state and country in 2020 , Oglebay in Wheeling braced for the worst . However , by remaining agile and keeping its marketing emphasis fluid , the resort did not realize its worst nightmares , and , in fact , was able to renovate while navigating the pandemic .
“ Initially , it appeared the reduction in the group and conference business segments here would result in the property experiencing at least a 45 % decrease in annual revenues ,” says Herb Faulkenberry , vice president of sales and marketing at Oglebay . “ By shifting our marketing emphasis to families seeking recreation , as well as the neighboring states canceling both golf and wedding-based business , we were able to regain a very large portion of that potential loss while developing a new customer base .”
When social distancing sliced into the resort ’ s restaurant business , Oglebay embraced takeout and expanded its menu . By the end of fiscal 2020 , the looming 45 % decrease in revenues shrank to about 18 %. As Zoom meetings became the norm , Oglebay ’ s conference center stood empty but ready for a facelift .
“ Oglebay decided to accelerate its already planned renovations of all meeting spaces ,” says Faulkenberry . “ The circumstances were almost perfect because we wouldn ’ t have to disrupt any booked events .”
Faulkenberry says raw material shortages that characterized much of the pandemic made the renovation challenging , but the resort ’ s more than 20,000 square feet of newly renovated conference spaces were ready and functional by August 1 , 2021 . The brighter , modern conference
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rooms support and even surpass today ’ s technology demands . As the pandemic ’ s grip begins to loosen , Faulkenberry says 2021 could be a year for the books .
“ Going into this fiscal year we had predicted that business levels we saw in 2019 would not return until 2022 or , more likely , 2023 ,” he says . “ I could not have been more incorrect . We are presently exceeding the levels of business experienced at this same time in 2019 . This is a good barometer for the remainder of 2021 and a business pace I hope continues .”
The Gaines Estate
Husband and wife Bill and Sally Wells and their business partner in Cascade Properties , Richard Stephens , were preparing to open The Gaines Estate , a stylish and grand event venue in downtown Fayetteville , just as COVID-19 was tightening its grip on the country .
“ Our first event was a wedding scheduled for May of last year . Of course , that got canceled , along with several others ,” Bill says . “ The governor ended up stating that weddings could still be held , but people were so confused and concerned about what to do , we had several early weddings pushed back , some to this year .”
The owners kept the venue open to whatever events were deemed safe and adapted to the times . While the owners used this time to complete the vision for The Gaines Estate , private events dried up
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