Zoom Pilates and Online Art: Borough Merchants Get Creative

Martha Perkins, owner of Gallery on Park, has launched an online shop. The Swarthmore merchant sells fine art and handmade gift items, from jewelry to birdhouses, and Perkins has photographed over 100 of them so she can sell them on her website. “It’s time-consuming,” she says. “But it feels like it’s my only option.”

Gov. Tom Wolf’s March 19 order to close physical locations of non-life-sustaining businesses has hit Swarthmore’s town center hard. Only a few stores in the business district — like the Swarthmore Co-op, Swarthmore Hardware, and the two dry cleaners, as well as some restaurants open for take-out — fall into the life-sustaining category. But across town, merchants are rising to the occasion and creating innovative solutions to keep themselves in business until they are permitted to reopen. 

Gallery on Park has long had a website, but until now it was just informational. Adding a purchase-and-deliver option to the site has been a challenge, but one Perkins is excited about. Items not available through the new “click to buy” feature can be purchased by email or over the telephone. Perkins has completed numerous no-contact home deliveries, donning a mask and dropping items at the buyer’s preferred location — “typically their front porch,” she said. 

Perkins has also gotten creative about continuing Gallery on Park’s artist-of-the month tradition. Usually, as part of Swarthmore First Fridays, the store hosts a wine-and-cheese reception highlighting the work of a particular artist and offering the public a chance to meet them. Although the April reception had to be canceled, Perkins put work by April’s featured artist, Swarthmore painter Melissa Husted-Sherman, in the shop window for members of the community to enjoy as they walk by. 

Staying in Touch

Angela Merola-Drabik of High Volume Hair Studio with her daughter Arianna. Photo: Angela Merola-Drabik

But what if what you sell is not a product but a service?

High Volume Hair Studio owners Anna Mazepink and Angela Merola-Drabik opened their doors just over two years ago. Given that haircuts can’t be delivered virtually, they are doing what they can to stay afloat. Like Perkins, they quickly set up an online store and have been making contact-free deliveries of hair products.

They are also keeping their clients engaged on social media. Their Instagram and Facebook pages show pre-pandemic pictures of their cut and coloring work, and offer messages, wishing their followers well and doing their best to entertain them. They don’t miss an opportunity to joke about the potential for hilariously bad amateur “lockdown haircuts.” Speaking about members of the community, Mazepink says, “We want to make sure that we’re putting content out there so that when they do go back to their hair salon…we’re kind of fresh in their minds.”

Some of their clients have called to ask for in-home appointments, but those are out of the question. “We’re following the rules,” Merola-Drabik says.

For Merola-Drabik, the difficult situation has a silver lining, though. She had a baby four months ago and had originally planned to return to the studio on April 7. “I get to enjoy things I wouldn’t if I was back to work already,” she says. 

When they do go back to working with clients in person, Merola-Drabik and Mazepink say they’ll be ready to fix the mistakes of anyone dissatisfied by attempts to cut their own hair at home. 

Working Out Virtually

Teaching Pilates at a distance is tricky, but it can be done. Jeanna Vanni, owner of Pilates Connexion, has adopted Zoom to host about four virtual group classes a day. That’s not nearly as many classes as she usually teaches, but at least it’s something.

Not every client has taken to the virtual approach. While some group classes have 15 participants, others have seen as few as three. And doing Pilates at home without Pilates equipment can be a challenge. People tuning in on Zoom don’t necessarily have workout supplies lying around at home. But others have found it can be done!

“You definitely have to get creative,” Vanni says. As an alternative to free-weights, for example, she encourages her clients to use kitchen items, like cans of vegetables or large water-filled jugs. And during barre classes, Pilates Connexion instructors demonstrate how to use a kitchen chair in lieu of a barre. “We try to make it accessible for everybody,” Vanni says.

Jeanna Vanni models how to use cans as weights. Photo: Nicky Vanni

They have also begun renting equipment to customers. “We just coordinate a time to meet and that’s it,” Vanni says. “It’s a no-contact curb pick-up.”

Zoom has its drawbacks, but it has allowed for some unique connections too. According to Vanni, regular clients have been inviting their out-of-town friends and family to participate — from as far away as Arizona. “It’s really fun that way.”

To encourage newcomers, the business is offering free trials.

Show the Love

Swarthmore Town Center (STC), the non-profit organization that supports the local business community and organizes community events, is doing its best to support the merchants and the town. “How do you create community when you don’t have that physical place?” wonders STC President Sharon Mester.

One thing the group has done is connect local merchants to people with appropriate expertise to help them strategize and regroup. Mester says that STC Coordinator Anita Barrett began by creating a survey to ask the business owners what they need. And now, STC is connecting these owners with experts in fields like insurance, real estate, and digital marketing. “We’re calling it adopt-a-business,” she said of the help these experts are providing.

STC is also encouraging members of the community to support local stores by liking them on social media, writing online reviews, and recommending them to friends. “Every week we’re identifying a way someone can support a small business,” Mester said. She urged people to follow STC’s Facebook page and sign up for their newsletter to learn about what’s happening in town. 

STC’s newest initiative is to create Swarthmore’s own version of a national program called World of Hearts. Merchants will be putting hearts in their windows, and asking residents to do the same. STC is even redesigning its logo, flipping the two leaves it features now to form the shape of a heart. 

“You can show love in a lot of different ways,” Mester said.