BELFAST, Maine — When Nathaniel Baer was getting ready to open a new coffee shop in downtown Belfast a year ago, he worked on making the space as inviting to his future customers as possible.
But fate intervened.
Because of the pandemic, no customer has set foot in Downshift Coffee, 39 Main St., since it opened last spring. Still, through creativity and resilience, Baer, 46, made it work. At a time when even long-established businesses have struggled or closed, his coffee shop has become a regular stop for many in the city, who wait outside to order freshly made drinks and home-baked cookies and scones through a window in the door.
He’s gotten to know those customers, even though they’re all masked and the interactions are briefer than Baer had expected.
“It wasn’t the plan,” he said of all the pivots he has made. “But that was our best way to deal with COVID. We just put our other plans on hold.”
Before Baer launched his own business, he…
