New Westminster restaurants co-present Donuteria

The pandemic has forced many business owners to come up with creative ways to stay afloat, among them two New Westminster restaurants teaming up to get by.

When the local farmers market closed, local donut maker John Goodrich of Royal City Donuts had nowhere to sell his pastries. Dan Birsan, owner of Bruncheria, invited Goodrich to sell his donuts at Bruncheria, leading to the creation of their new joint location: Donuteria.

“I stepped in and I said, ‘Okay, why don’t you sell products in our shop?'” says Birsan. “We had a tiny corner selling donuts, so this is how everything started last year as a collaboration.”

The shop opened at the start of October to serve sweets to locals.

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Birsan says with indoor dining allowed at full capacity again, the next challenge for businesses like his will be recruiting and retaining new staff.

“With the closure of dining, limited capacity, and everything related to social distancing, our business was hugely impacted, especially by restrictions,” he says. “At the last minute, we saved the business from closure.”

He encourages more small businesses to work together and help one another through the pandemic.

“I feel like moving forward. Small businesses should work together for various reasons, but first of all to share knowledge and experience and bring more people to fill up the new business,” he says.

Birsan says things are looking up for business, and he considers the new collaboration “a new beginning.”