Given the limits imposed by social distancing, Doug Koozer considered canceling the opening scheduled for this weekend at his art gallery on the West Shore.
But he and his business partner, Jason Kreiger, decided to forge ahead. Instead of a traditional in-person opening, they are hosting a virtual event. Their goal is to help artists who are struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic — and to create something of a lifeline for their gallery, called BrainVessel.
“The small businesses with an edge are the ones that are going to live through this,” said Koozer. “Some businesses are going to fall out. I don’t want to be the one that falls out.”
Koozer and Kreiger founded BrainVessel in 2013 as a marketing and branding firm. A few years later, they opened the art gallery, in Hampden Township, Cumberland County. The marketing work continues. But the gallery — representing about half the firm’s revenue, as well as embodying the kind of work the owners enjoy most — has been closed since March 16.
Fortunately, Koozer said, the firm was in a strong enough position financially to adapt.
One piece of the gallery’s strategy has been to boost its online sales, which had represented about 2% of its revenue before the pandemic, Koozer said. But in order to sell more via the internet, the gallery had to post more of its products on its website and figure out new ways to get them into customer’s hands.