Serving the City: GM Says Industry Given Her Opportunity to Grow

ST. CLOUD -- As shoppers have converged on St. Cloud and Waite Park to do their Christmas shopping if they wanted something to eat they've been limited to take out.

Heather Hanson is the general manager at Boulder Tap House a place that would normally be bustling with weary shoppers. Hanson says she's been in the bar and restaurant industry since she got a job working in a diner up in Fargo when she was 15 years old. Here in town, she's been working at Grizzly's and now Boulder Tap House for 13 years.

She says for a place that offers a lot of tap beer options getting a two-day notice of a shutdown was difficult.

We ran a few beer blowout specials trying to push as much as we possibly could out the door.  A lot of our beer companies were amazing to help pick up product and give us credits.  Got stuck with a lot.

In the short time that we were at the restaurant, there were several people that came in to buy gift cards, which Hanson says is a great way to support local restaurants.

That's probably the biggest way that they can do it right now, if you don't want to come in and get take-out, the gift cards are a good way to support us right now.

Hanson says what she likes about the industry is that there are always opportunities for growth.

As for the challenges of running a restaurant this year she says they're all learning together and it has not been easy to forecast or plan for. She says she's crossing her fingers that they'll be able to open again on January 10th, and she says ramping up to reopen again is more challenging than you might think.

If you know someone you think we should include in our series "Serving the City" be sure to let us know.