EASTSIDE
BIG TOM'S
TAKES A CREATIVE APPROACH TO SERVICE AMID COVID-19 by Heidi Smith
In an industry that has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, [Michael] Fritsch (right) has been able to modify his business model while minimizing risks for his team.
At 2:30 on a Friday afternoon at Eastside Big Tom’s, an employee interrupted owner Michael Fritsch’s conversation to deliver some news. “We’re out of ketchup packets again,” he announced. It was the third time that day, and the demand for ketchup and every other item on the menu showed no signs of slowing down. The popular and historic drive-through restaurant briefly closed when the COVID-19 outbreak hit but is back in business with limited hours, an adapted menu, and several innovative strategies for staying afloat amid the crisis. In an industry that has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, Fritsch has been able to modify his business model while minimizing risks for his team. Fritsch’s parents bought the restaurant in 1969, and it was Washington State’s first drive-through, as well as the first to incorporate solar power long before it was a recognized industry. In 2019 Big Tom’s celebrated its 50th anniversary. When he first realized it would be necessary to close, Fritsch was distraught (or in his terms, “I laid around in bed and cried for days on end”). Technically, Big Tom’s didn’t have to shut down but morally there was no other choice, he explains. “Nobody was following the rules in the beginning at all. I have a couple of employees who take medicines that are destroying their immune systems, so they can’t work under those conditions. Some of my older workers who are more at risk have been with me for years. I didn’t have to shut down, but I did it because I needed to be able to live with myself.” Once the business re-opened several weeks later, new measures were in place to keep staff and the public safe. Before COVID-19, it took eight to ten people to run the inside thurstonchamber.com
