Locals 8 Family Store

UPDATE 5/21/20: The last eight weeks have allowed the Locals 8 Family Store the privilege of eliminating just a small part of the uncertainty, confusion and stress of our work family and the greater communities in Hartford, Fairfield and Ashburn, Virginia. As states start opening back up, we are starting to concentrate on getting our employees back to work. As a result, Locals 8 Family Store will be closed as of May 22, 2020, the services are being phased out as we start getting our staff up and running at the restaurants again. We have been honored to help feed families during this time, and we will continue to do so through our ongoing efforts and partnerships. Please check out the current distribution locations for Foodshare (http://site.foodshare.org), a wonderful community partner who is still offering assistance at various spots throughout Connecticut. We will always owe them a debt of gratitude for helping us help so many families. You can find their schedule on Facebook. Thank you everyone for coming together with us during these difficult and unprecedented times.

HARTFORD – Locals 8 Restaurant Group has repurposed their training center on 484 Farmington Avenue and opened a family store to serve meals to the community. They served 160 families last week and are preparing to double that next week.

Some of the current offerings include fresh vegetables, rice, canned goods, seasonings, potatoes, pasta, one-pound packs of chicken, salmon, ground pork and more. Locals 8 is also delivering meal kits to Fairfield to be distributed at their Plan b location so that employees and the community can conveniently pick up food, while they work on opening additional family stores in southern Connecticut and the DC area.

“We have been focused on feeding our employees from Massachusetts to Virginia since the onset of the coronavirus quarantine, offering fresh produce, grains, proteins and meal kits. That process has evolved into the Family Store in Hartford, with efforts to open Fairfield and DC. We noticed a lot of people have been left in limbo and do not have access to any resources. We felt we needed to provide them with security, consistency and get them resources. Hence the family store was created. A core part of the company’s mission is, ‘Good food can keep us together even though we are apart,’” says Allie J. Gamble, founder, and CEO of Locals 8 Restaurant Group.

People can visit locals8.com and use the online scheduling platform to sign up for an appointment to come in and select their meal kits. This will help to space people out and ensure social distancing. There are also links on the scheduling site for inventory sheets to see the available food options and recipe ideas. Precautionary methods in the family store include safe food handling procedures, gloves, masks, arrows for shopping flow and only allowing four people in the store at a time.

Current Hours: 

Hartford Family Store: Thursday and Friday 1:00 – 3:00, office at 484 Farmington Avenue

Fairfield Family Store: Thursday 1:000 – 3:00, b Fairfield at 1262 Post Road

(As demand grows, these hours will increase.)

“We’re all going through this, no one is alone during this pandemic. We may not be able to gather to share meals together right now, but we can still take care of our team, their families and the community. We miss everyone. These are tough times. We have weekly team calls to stay connected, share our experiences and listen to ways that we can help more. We want our staff to know that we are here for them, and their families, just as they have always been there for us. Sharing food is one of the best ways that we can do that in these uncertain times. That’s what families do,” says Gamble.

Locals 8 is partnering with Foodshare’s Feeding the Future organization for much of the store’s fresh produce. Locals 8 and Food Share have a long partnership of volunteering, donations and food drives. Foodshare is running their mobile sites throughout the region, as well as a new location in Rentschler Field in East Hartford with a drive-thru service. Visit their Facebook page for more information and hours.

“John B. Kennelly, General Counsel, and Kevin Watson, VP of Operations and our Executive Chef, pulled together this store and pooled our resources,” explains Shawn M. Skehan, co-founder of Locals 8 Restaurant Group. “We have access to fresh food, quality meat, refrigerators, space to serve people and an innate drive that we need to provide comfort food during this time of crisis.”

Want to get involved? If you’d like to contribute any products/resources to the Locals 8 Family Store, we’d love to partner up to help support even more of our community. You can email us at guestrelations@burgersbeerbourbon.com.

About Locals 8

Locals 8 Restaurant Group is the award-winning parent company of Plan b Restaurants, The Half Door, Tisane Euro-Asian Cafe, Butchers & Bakers, and Locals 8 Catering. Winners of best burger, beer, and bourbon across four states and nationally known for excellent job creation, the company was founded on the simple belief that good food and drink bring people together – and the world needs more connection.

Press Contact:

SkyeLine Studio, LLC
Skye MacBroom
sm@skyeline.com

(203) 879-2258