A letter from the owner
[UPDATED11-29-20]
Even though Covid numbers for our county has put Elkhart County in the red, we have maintained our safety protocols. Our store is fully open with many Covid safety measures in place. Safety measures include safety glass around all counter tops and the register; temporary suspension of all self service bins including the bulk nut bins, bulk Jelly Belly bins; no merchandise or product on the showroom floor. All our products are located behind the counters, and our trained staff will be getting everything for you. This includes Jelly Belly jelly beans, bulk nuts, novelty candies (pop rocks, gummies, Pez ect).
Safety is our top priority and we are taking this seriously, however we are hoping that you can still have as much of a normal experience in our store as you can.
[UPDATED 6/4/2020]
As Indiana moves forward with phases for reopening, we will be carefully monitoring our local county's COVID numbers and trends. Currently, the numbers are still rising, as we feel it is not safe for ourselves, our employees, our customers, nor our products to reopen the retail store at this time. We will reevaluate in the upcoming weeks.
With that being said, we feel that we have trained our staff on how to be safe, protect themselves, and recognize the demand to visit us. Starting today 6/4/2020, we will be reopening our curbside pickup option; our free delivery to Goshen zips will still be available. We have also opened up delivery to the rest of the county, for a small delivery fee.
For curbside pickup orders, please call ahead, or call when you arrive; place your order; pay over the phone (we enter your card into our encrypted & secure POS only); let us know where we can find you; we will then bring out your order. We have gotten pretty quick on getting orders out, but sometimes there might be a slight delay. Our staff will be wearing PPE - N95 masks, gloves.
Other COVID sanitation guidlines we have been following - all the recommendations from the CDC for restaurants and retail businesses including but not limited to: staff wearing masks; high touch areas being sanitized with virus killing solution; employees are required to take tempature and assess for any of the big symptoms of covid; lots of hand washing (but we already did that)
Thank you again for your support and patience! We are getting through this together!
Danae Bell, owner
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[UPDATED 3/34/2020
Due to Indiana Governor Holcomb’s order mandating people to stay home and all nonessential businesses to close, The Nut Shoppe will be temporarily closing to the public. While The Nut Shoppe falls under this executive order’s category of essential businesses/food service [Owner’s note: chocolate is absolutely essential!! J], Justin and I feel that we need to help discourage people from going out and we will do our part by not being open to the public during the durations of the Governor orders.
During this time, we will no longer offer curbside pickup, in addition to continuing the no in-store browsing policy.
However, we will be available for taking orders and shipping out orders. We recognize the value of having access to sweet treats, chocolate rewards, and sharing experiences with family and we want to still be able to provide those services.
To order, call us at 574-534-2828 or visit us at www.TheNutShoppeChocolates.com
We are continuously adding more and more items to our website, but if there is something that you are wanting and can’t find it on the site, give us a call.
Thank you for your continued support during these constant adaptions. WE LOVE YOU ALL!!
Looking forward to everything to go back to normal.
Please stay healthy and safe. Practice social distancing. Thoroughly wash your hands.
Danae Bell, Owner
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[UPDATED 3/16/2020 1PM]
We will remain open but for curbside pickup only. Our new hours will be
Monday – Friday 9am-4pm
Saturday – 10am-4pm
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[Begins original letter]
3/15/2020
Thank you to all the fellow downtown businesses who have posted concerning COVID-19.
We at The Nut Shoppe are closely monitoring the situation, and are taking information, advice, and action provided from the CDC, our local, state and federal governments, and the health department.
We at The Nut Shoppe are very aware of all the cleaning needs during this pandemic. Like other food establishments, we and our employees are very conscious of hand washing. All workers at the Nut Shoppe already use E-85 washing/sanitizing soap due to my hand dipping policy. All our employees are trained in our rigorous cleaning schedules and we have daily, weekly, quarterly, and yearly schedules already in place.
In addition to the previously mentioned standards of sanitation, we will be increasing the frequency of cleaning in the high touch areas in our store, effective last week. These areas include our register, door handles (inside and out) and countertops. We plan on doing more daily and hourly sanitation. We will be following the guidelines on our sanitation products and CDC recommendations on best ways to combat bacteria and viruses for these high touch areas. If you are seeking more information on this, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
While browsing our store, we do ask you to refrain from picking up packaging you do not plan on purchasing in efforts to decrease the spread of germs. Our sales associates are more than happy to answer any questions about our packaged items.
Regarding the school system closing schools, please be aware our children will have more presence at The Nut Shoppe. Also know that I, Danae, am a registered nurse and have taught our children from very young age to wash their hands often and thoroughly. During this time, our children will have limited access to the public areas of the store. Our children also have no access to our products and have been trained as if they were employees on best food safety practices.
We will be working hard and quickly over the next few days to get as many chocolate bunnies/Easter items on our website. You will be able to do your browsing and purchasing in the comfort of your home. We can package it up for you to pick up at your convenience. In the shipping options, we have free in-store pickup as an option. We also will be doing curbside delivery, as many other downtown business friends are doing, if you do not wish to leave your car. Just give us a call when you arrive, and we will deliver it to your passenger window.
I am keeping up to date on the latest COVID-19 information that is coming out daily. We will take every precaution necessary to keep our customers, employees, and family healthy and protected.
Currently (March 15, 2020) we will remain open during our normal business hours. Due to the fluidity of decision making concerning this pandemic our hours are subject to change. We will communicate these changes if this should occur.
We wish you all health and happiness as we all practice social distancing per CDC recommendations.
Owner, Danae Bell, RNC
The Nut Shoppe, Inc