Kirkwood coffee shops such as Dunkin Donuts and Kaldi’s have started to shorten their hours due to staffing issues because of the pandemic. Kaldi’s general manager said that closing this early has been a positive adjustment for the company. Instead of closing their doors in the evening, both franchises have decided to close at 2 p.m., less than an hour before KHS students are released from school. This shift in schedule has had an impact on KHS students. Josie Sausville, sophomore, said she usually would get coffee after school, and with this schedule change she isn’t able to. 

“I noticed [coffee shops] are closing earlier because my friends and I like to get coffee after school,” Sausville said. “Now we cannot have a much needed pick-me-up like we used to before the change in hours.”

Along with students, employees of these coffee shops have been heavily impacted by reopening and adjusting their hours, they said. Switching franchise locations and newly hired employees have been two major struggles for Kaldi’s Coffee. The general manager of Kaldi’s said that despite these struggles, this has made Kaldi’s a better and more profitable company. 

“[Kaldi’s] has had to move people around, which is why we kept our hours [shorter],” general manager at Kirkwood Kaldi’s said. “We needed to hire more to help with the cafe. [The change in hours] was really just about keeping up with how busy we have gotten since [opening] back up.”

Coffee shops also provide an open space for everyone, including students, to take a break or study. When walking into a Kaldi’s, it is common to see a variety of people settled in the lounge area with a coffee in hand. Margaret Stewart, sophomore, chooses to spend her time in these areas.

“[Starbucks] is great company with a lot of people, and gives me a safe space to hang out if I cannot go to work or go home,” Margaret Stewart, sophomore, said. “[Closing] is an inconvenience to some people and annoying because I can’t get my food, but I [understand] that they’re understaffed and need to close early.”