As the North Country region continues to reopen, it remains to be seen how our processes and habits will change because of safety concerns. If they do, businesses will likely have to change, too. One in Watertown is getting a head start.

Renzi's Foodservice provides the food we eat in local restaurants, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and more. About a month ago, the company created a way to add directly to the public to that list, by introducing Renzi Market.

"It really started with the thought process of thinking about what the community was going through with COVID with people needing to stay home and how we could help get the food and supplies that they needed," said JoAnne Renzi Wise, Renzi Foodservice's director of marketing and community service.

The market has both a curbside pickup and delivery option for people where they can buy, in larger and more bulk-type fashion, fresh and frozen meats, seafood, dairy, and more. Its new delivery vans are refrigerated, and as of Tuesday, the delivery area has grown from just Watertown to all of Jefferson County.

To help with the economics of the time, it is free until Labor Day.

"We just really appreciate the community really supporting us during this time as well," Renzi Wise added.

The question that remains is, what about after this time? Will people go back to the way things were? Will all these new changes find a permanent place? Perhaps it is somewhere in the middle.

"You have to really regroup and you have to strategize different ways to grow your business and to stay relevant. We felt this was a great opportunity for us to do just that," Wise said.