The beginning of social distancing was a scary time for businesses, especially smaller local businesses. Many of these establishments have had to get creative to ensure the survival of their business while most customers are staying at home.

This includes the York River Pottery Company operating at Gloucester Point. Stephanie Kessel, owner of the brick-and-mortar store, said that even before the governor began ordering distancing, she knew things would change. It was about the second week of March when she “noticed a very sharp drop in paint session bookings.” It was the very same week that she installed a new kiln for her business.

Kessel realized quickly that fearful people were staying at home and wouldn’t be leaving for leisure activities such as painting. To combat this, she began advertising “picnic painting,” and allowed only one group to book the indoors of the shop at a time. However, she still only saw sporadic business. “I began to see the writing on the wall clearly....