As dozens of masked customers lined up for cocktails and brick-oven pizzas Friday evening, it quickly became hard to tell that downtown Phoenix’s Churchill had been shuttered for more than three months.
After two closings due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March and June, the beloved outdoor marketplace and food court made a triumphant return Friday evening. Each small business — a Mexican restaurant, a pizzeria, boutiques, two bars, a smoothie stand, and a soon-to-be bagel shop — opened up its converted shipping container space once again.
The reopening was a relief to owner and lifelong Phoenix resident Kell Duncan, who oversees the restaurants and shops that make up the space on First and Garfield streets. Walking into work Friday afternoon for the first time in months, he swung his backpack off behind one of the venue’s bars and started placing pumps of hand sanitizer evenly across the countertop.
“The uncertainty is challenging,” Duncan said of the pandemic. “A lot of stuff is completely out of your control. How long is it going to go? What are we going to do next? How are we going to keep up with everything?”
However, Duncan said he felt confident in the Churchill’s latest safety measures. The venue is only keeping one entrance open, requiring masks when patrons aren’t seated, enforcing social distancing in lines, and displaying most menus either on TV screens or QR codes that visitors can scan on their phones.
Bars even have separate buckets for used and sanitized styluses after customers checkout on iPads, in lieu of using cash.
The staff also set up a system in which each table has a number, and a cardholder with a note card saying, “This table has been sanitized.” Floor managers remove the small black card when they seat a table, and put it back once the guests have left and the table is cleaned.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to make it as comfortable as possible,” Duncan said. “We have the advantage of being outdoors and open air. That’s probably the best thing we have going for us.”
At the beginning of the pandemic, the venue closed temporarily for the first time on March 16, and then reopened on May 22. But the May reopening was short-lived. Three weeks later, coronavirus cases spiked in Arizona and the Churchill had to close back down on June 15.
Up until June, daily coronavirus cases in Arizona remained under 1,000, and even under 500 most days, but by June 30, the state had reached a high of 3,250, according to data from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The Churchill wasn’t alone in its decision to close a second time. Nearby on Roosevelt Street, Jobot Coffee & Bar also closed temporarily and remained shut down until late August, and reported on its social media pages that an employee had tested positive for COVID-19.
RELATED: Jobot, The Churchill close after recent spikes in COVID-19 cases
The unpredictability was tough to grapple with for some employees, who found themselves searching for other work in the interim.
Saul Diaz is among them. On Friday night, he put a black apron over his Hawaiian shirt and green shorts, and resumed his usual duties as the front-of-house manager at Provecho, a coffee and taco stand in the marketplace. But up until then, he’d taken on a second job as a barista at Starbucks.
“I was very worried, of course,” Diaz said. “I didn’t have a lot of information. I was trying to figure out if I should stay or get another job. But I’m happy to be back here. This is my heart and soul.”
“We always try to stay with high hopes,” Diaz said. “We try to stay positive. Now, we want to revamp and be a lot stronger, and be more precautious.”
Meanwhile, at the nearby boutique Gather Phx, co-owners Hannah Alley and Lauren Hillery worked on their online store and digital advertising strategy while they couldn’t welcome shoppers in person. They said said that they were fortunate to have corporate marketing jobs in addition to running the store.
“There’s something renewing about reopening our doors,” Alley said. “I think the Churchill has done a really good job of ensuring a safe reopening.”
Gather, Alley said, serves as a “creative platform for local makers” who sell items like clothing, artwork and jewelry at her shop.
“For a lot of our makers, this is a lifeline. This is how they make their money,” Alley said. “To be a space that holds over 70 makers, that’s 70 families that we’re allowing to stay in business. There’s a big responsibility. We want the community to experience the magic that exists in the desert, through these makers.”
Stephen Polando, co-founder and former owner of the Churchill clothing store State Forty Eight, said he feels a strong sense of community support from loyal Churchill customers in the Phoenix area.
“The people I know who work in or own local businesses, they have customers going out of their way to do what they could to keep their business afloat,” Polando said. “Those are stories you don’t see or hear often.”
Friday saw more than 100 visitors throughout the night, and a steady crowd filled the courtyard Saturday afternoon too. Some came to grab takeout, but others spent the night at socially distanced food court tables, a drink in hand.
Longtime customer and Phoenix resident Cory Van Note said he missed The Churchill’s presence in the neighborhood and was happy to be spending his Friday night there, soaking in the art and variety of cuisine.
“I’m happy for a return to this little bit of normalcy, with the addition of more space and masks,” Van Note said. “Being outdoors and having all the extra space between tables feels safer than some of the other places I’ve seen open.”
Staff members like Diaz who’ve been at Churchill since its initial 2018 opening said they’re hopeful that things will pick up where they left off before March, and that the market will continue to maintain the happy, community-oriented atmosphere that it’s known for.
“I want everyone to be able to experience the whole Churchill vibe,” Diaz said. “It’s such a communal space. We want to share our love for the community in every type of way.”
Contact the reporter at Gdelia1@asu.edu.
