WASHINGTON — Dio Wine Bar in D.C.'s H Street Corridor is still sporting boards on its doors and windows, after a break-in left them smashed -- but they're plowing ahead, determined to weather the coronavirus storm.
The nearly three-year-old bar has endured quite a few blows at the hands of the pandemic. Like many small businesses, they had to close their doors after the shutdown of non-essential businesses.
Then, Dio's general manager contracted the virus. Thankfully, owner Stacey Khoury-Diaz said she has since made a full recovery.
Last week, Khoury-Diaz said someone broke the front windows and doors to their bar, and multiple people ended up stealing $2,000-worth of wine. Days later, she said a man attempted another burglary, but was unsuccessful.
Police said they have identified a person of interest in the case but have not made any arrests.
"Hopefully we’re through the worst of it at this point in time, crossing fingers," Khoury-Diaz said.
She said initially, they saw a 26% drop in revenue. Then, that catapulted to 100% when they had to close their doors. To reopen and stay afloat, they've completely changed their business model in a matter of weeks.
"We just created an online bottle shop and are now open for pickup and delivery, and we do delivery and pickups six days a week pickups," Khoury-Diaz said. "Basically, we’re just trying to pivot and keep up with the times and what people need right now."
She said she and her manager probably make 20 to 30 deliveries a day now, "because we’re the ones that have cars."
When it comes to pickups, they open the front door and place a cabinet in between themselves and the customer to help maintain social distancing. Then, they sanitize and package the wine from inside the shop, and masked employees hand it off without ever stepping outside.
"So far it’s been met with a lot of support and positivity," Khoury-Diaz said. "We’ve had as solid of a transition as you could expect when you’re changing your whole business model in two weeks, but it’s been good so far."
Dio received another piece of good news recently -- Bon Appetit Magazine named them "America's Most Fun, Most Inclusive Wine Bar."
"We’re super honored and super thrilled about it, and plan on continuing the ethos of what that accolade means in carrying on this new business model," Khoury-Diaz said.
She said they were most honored by the "inclusivity" accolade.
"We are constantly trying to make Dio as a bar, but also the idea of natural wine in general, that people of color and communities that don’t always get included in wine conversations feel ownership over this product," Khoury-Diaz said. "This whole wine world is also for you…so we’ve been trying to create more community and bring folks in that might not be part of that conversation."
As they continue to evolve their business to include more online elements, she said her family and team are keeping their spirits up.
"I lean on my people and that helps pull me through the challenging times," Khoury-Diaz said.
She said Dio is participating in D.C.'s virtual small business Saturday and offering $2 next-day deliveries for wine bottles purchased on Saturday.