Brunetti’s Pizza and Deli opened in Scranton, Pa., in 1958 and was so beloved by the community that customers would volunteer to shovel its sidewalk on snowy days. Mike Brunetti, the son of the founder, and his wife Therese took over the operation. They got engaged in the shop and their kids all worked there.
Then came COVID. Shuttered in March, Brunetti’s had no revenues until May, when it reopened. The owners kept up their payments to suppliers, but sales were vastly reduced because of the shop’s small size and social-distancing requirements. Even a $14,000 loan under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program wasn’t enough.
