Reopening! And Taking Up Space

Some reflection over the last few months as we prepare for our storefront FINALLY reopening!!

I’m an incredibly emotional and sensitive person and I usually cry at the drop of a hat. Every moving scene in a TV show or movie, tears. Sharing anything even remotely personal about myself (even to strangers), tears. I am well versed in pulling up my shirt collar to wipe my eyes.

Unexpectedly, I have not cried much the last several months. I think it’s because I’ve felt immense pressure to keep it together. This isn’t just me anymore—I have a full-blown business, a small team of employees, subletters, a whole community of supporters (thank you!), and I need to stay positive and continue to push forward for everyone. But I finally broke on one particularly hard day when my son asked me how I was feeling. I tried to find words to condense the enormity of the last several months into a response to a toddler. “I am feeling sad,” I said.

To be honest, I was on verge of giving up multiple times. I imagined leaving everything behind. Could I get out of my lease? Could I just return to a mental space where I would be left alone? Many days, the stress and weight felt too much to bear. As someone who values transparency and vulnerability, I knew I had to share what we were going through to reach catharsis. The outpouring of support was absolutely overwhelming, but there were things that happened that I never would’ve expected. Whether you believe me or not, I just wanted people to be aware of what was going on and to let our supporters in so they could surround us during a challenging time.

For the 24 hours following my previous newsletter, I was an anxious wreck. I couldn’t sleep at all that night. I was way out of my comfort zone and when I was trying to process why, I realized it’s because putting myself out there goes against everything I was raised to do. I was taught to sweep everything under a rug and pretend like nothing has happened. Do not rock the boat, bring any wanted or unwanted attention, and accept without protest. I kept coming back to something an Asian American chef told me when I was seeking advice: “We as Asians have been taught to deal with unreasonable shit, and this is unreasonable shit.” One of my employees also helped me see that I am so unaccustomed to taking up space. I decided to take up space.

As I read through so many encouraging messages and emails over the last couple months, a common thread was how many people love what Q is in our community. So many fellow Asian Americans shared how our space and food make them feel at home and that is one of the best compliments I could ever receive. These are the words that held me together over the last couple months, helping me remember why I began in the first place. I believe Q stands for a lot more than delicious (if I do say so myself) pastries and food. We represent the remarkable culture of 16% of the Ann Arbor population, 7% of the United States. We highlight the cross section of Asian and American and how it can be something beautiful. We are changing long-held perceptions of “cheap” Chinese food to help us all keep an open mind and palette. We are an invitation to experience core food memories of Asians/Asian Americans. We need diversity and representation in our local economy, especially in small business. We are taking up space.

GRAND REOPENING

It has been 7.5 weeks since we temporarily closed the storefront. We were barely open before it happened. I think this may be one of the worst opening experiences for a small business to ever happen. I’m ready to move on and look back on this time with laughter.

Let’s begin that process as we are reopening TOMORROW, Thursday, July 18th and would love to see your lovely faces! We will no longer be taking preorders and will return to walk-in retail service only. As much as we have loved and depended on your preorders the last couple months, none of us want to see a printed ticket preorder ever again haha. As a fun reopening freebie, we are giving away a sweet corn cookie with every purchase, while supplies last.

A couple more upcoming updates are that we are going to trial some new business hours: Wednesday-Sunday instead of Tuesday-Saturday. Sunday hours will be limited, but we will be rolling out a Sunday Taiwanese brunch concept that we’re all very excited about! Stay tuned.

Let’s get back to it!