Double Whammy! The Chill and The Blend are ready to serve

March 15, 2021March 15, 2021 Franchesca Hackworth

Flyer Enterprises is reopening The Chill and The Blend, photo of The Chill from @thechill_fe.

As of March 3, Flyer Enterprise hotspots, The Blend and The Chill, are officially open on UD’s campus.

After being inactive for the first semester, these two businesses are ready for new customers and familiar Flyers to drop in, all while upholding the CDC guidelines on campus.

The Chill

After speaking with Anthony Pellegrino, the President of Art Street and The Chill, it is clear that employees of The Chill will be working efficiently and safely.

“The approval process has been very different from years past. With COVID in mind, we had to be in constant contact with our university contacts regarding when it was safe for any of our divisions to start operating, not just The Chill,” Pellegrino said.

“Once receiving approval from the university, we worked with Dining Services to solidify COVID protocols, staffing, and a safe opening date.”

In this off-time, The Chill also had time to modernize their menus and retrain employees on baseline operations to ensure speed and consistency when serving customers.

Pellegrino shared that the first week of reopening went so well that the number of staff members working throughout the day had to be doubled to keep up with their popularity. He also shared the goals set by The Chill for this year.

“As far as goals go, our main priority is campus and employee safety. We keep this goal at the forefront because without, The Chill would lose the opportunity that we worked so hard to obtain, providing a service to our campus community,” Pellegrino said.

“Our employees are focused on keeping themselves and our customers safe and healthy.”

The Chill will officially be a reservation option on UD’s RecPlex website.

Students will be able to reserve a time slot rather than beforehand, when students could only visit The Chill if they had a reservation elsewhere in the RecPlex.

Next time you find yourself in the Rec, make a reservation and try Pellegrino’s favorite, chocolate and peanut butter smoothie, the Power Up.

The Blend

Similar to The Chill, The Blend is focused on implementing safety protocols and the team is thrilled to be opening up again.

The Blend will still be proudly serving Starbucks coffee, but some things will be different from previous years.

Nicholas Best, President of UD’s coffee divisions, gladly shared his passion for The Blend’s grand reopening. The start-up process was long and thorough, which consisted of filling out training forms, safety contracts, and receiving approval from the county health department. Now, The Blend is finally open on the ground floor of Roesch Library.

Best shared that safety of customers, employees, and all community members is the top priority for The Blend. Precautions such as thinking of the flow of customers, having accurate distancing signs, and limiting the number of people on shift have all been considered.

There is also a high contact space checklist for employees to go through before starting their shift. This ensures that all machinery and equipment is clean and ready to be used.

“There’s a greater emphasis on who’s drink it is, and along with that we won’t have self serve with our coffee,” Best said.

The Blend finds it most beneficial for limiting contact among various people, so putting your own sugar and cream into coffee will no longer be available. Best put a positive spin on this though, and shared that employees will be focused on extra communication to ensure customer satisfaction.

Another aspect that is new to The Blend is how their payment system works. Workers will no longer be in contact with customers when checking out. The Blend has decided on becoming a cashless operation and now encourages touch-less card and meal plan payment methods.

“Coffee is a unique experience that brings a lot of people together. For me, not being able to see it as much, you know, not going to be able to see it this year as much, with people sitting down together and enjoying coffee together, that will be taken away from us, but that’s been my favorite part about The Blend,” Best said.

Best also works at Heritage Coffeehouse, which will hopefully be able to open soon, and says he loves the serious talks and productivity that coffee evokes in people.

Stop by The Blend next time you’re studying in Roesch Library, and try Best’s favorite drink, a hot caramel latte.

Flyer Enterprises is carefully reopening their businesses at different locations on campus giving first-year students the opportunity to experience the delicious smoothies and coffees for the first time while allowing upperclassmen to indulge in their favorite UD treats once again.

The Chill hours

Sunday 2:00pm- 10:00pm
Monday-Thursday 10:00am-9:30pm
Friday 10:00am-6:00pm
Saturday: CLOSED

The Blend hours:

Sunday 5:00-11:00pm
Monday-Thursday 8:00am-11:00pm
Friday 8:00am- 3:30pm
Saturday: CLOSED

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