Fixing up, not giving up!

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

Long Branch – The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has not spared a single person. Not everyone has contracted the virus, but we are all feeling the impact it has on our daily lives.

Left-to-Right: Rudy Jr., Rudy Sr., and Thomas D'Ambrisi of The Butcher's Block & D'Ambrisis Wholesale Foods in Long Branch

For the past four weeks we have been bombarded with statistics on who has been infected and who has lost the battle. We have been forced to remain isolated from others, no parties, no weeding’s, no graduations and no funerals.

Unemployment numbers continue to sky rocket as our economy has been stricken with COVID-19. The sad fact is that some businesses will never recover. Others have modified their model and are trying to do the best they can under these horrible conditions. While others are taking this time to fix up, remodel and plan on opening when the green light is given.

The Butcher’s Block and D’Ambrisi Wholesale Foods in Long Branch are examples of businesses taking this time to expand, remodel and finding new ways of branding themselves. Rudy D’Ambrisi, Sr., the family patriarch who started off as a butcher and built the commercial wholesale foods division is an optimist. “I never would have imagined something like this could happen. I’m heartbroken for my friends who are losing family members to this virus and those losing their livelihood as a result of everything shutting down,” said D’Ambrisi.

His sons, Rudy Jr., and Thomas are the new generation of D’Ambrisis working in the food market. Thomas is the owner of The Butcher’s Block which is located with the D’Ambrisi Wholesale Food facility on West Avenue. “We have not stopped serving our customers, we just can’t have them dinning with us. I always envisioned this business as a butcher’s shop, and over the last few weeks we have developed and expanded that part of the restaurant,” said Thomas. They are also taking the time to update the building so when everything goes back to normal, they will have a fresh new look.

Rudy Jr., runs the wholesale food establishment with his dad. “We have always cratered to the commercial side, restaurants and stores. However, lately we have been getting a lot of residential clients. People are not only looking for meat, but all types of foods and we can help them,” said Rudy, Jr.

D’Ambrisis are an example of fixing up, not giving up during this pandemic.