Website launched to support local business, workers

SEATTLE – Businesses large and small are scrambling to figure out how to survive this historic economic stall.

Many restaurants have been able to stay afloat by offering pick-up and delivery services.

Now a local restaurant owner says they have created a way to do all of that while keeping employees on the payroll and highlighting local businesses.

“When this crisis hit our retail sales went down,” said Piroshky Piroshky Bakery owner, Olga Sagan.

Her store remains open downtown and that means her employees are still working, still earning a paycheck. It’s a stark contrast to other businesses forced to close shop.

“I just feel like now it takes a village to do anything,” she said. “I feel for now we need to take our power back.”

That’s why Sagan built a new website and she believes it has made an impact for her workers.

“Our people wanted to drive, we wanted hours,” she said.

The website bypasses food delivery app and offers customers access to local businesses. Sagan says restauranteurs save a third by comparison and could keep a company’s bottom line in the black.

“It is free for businesses,” she said. “We do not collect customer data.”

More than 100 restaurants are onboard and more are coming from Bainbridge Island, Redmond and Kirkland. Sagan says nearly 100 deliveries were made to Tacoma last week.