Durham bar holds daily virtual happy hour

Kingfisher hosts daily happy hours on Instagram at 4:30 p.m.

Posted 1:45 p.m. Apr 7, 2020 — Updated 1:51 p.m. Apr 7, 2020

Kathy Hanrahan, Out

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DURHAM, N.C. — Kingfisher opened its doors seven months ago after more than a year doing pop-ups in the area. Business was good, and then came the coronavirus pandemic.

To keep connected to its customers the Durham cocktail bar has started a virtual happy hour every day at 4:30 p.m. on its Instagram page.

"We started right off the first day that we were closed," said Michelle Vanderwalker, who co-owns the bar with her husband, Sean Umstead. "We really wanted to keep in touch with our community."

The effort has not only helped them maintain a relationship with its customers but raise some extra money for its staff.

"We had plans to keep paying them as long as we could and keep this emergency fund going, but we thought, well, if we're doing this every day, it's a regular thing, then maybe we can, keep in touch with people who are regulars and also raise a little bit of money," she said.

The bar has a spot on its website for people to virtually tip its bartenders.

The daily cocktail hour is also providing them a chance to slow down.

"When we're running the bar, a lot of the time it can be too fast paced to really stop and talk to people," Vanderwalker said. "So it's really nice to have this environment where Sean can really explain more about what goes into the cocktails, help people learn about them so that they can do it themselves."

The bar, which is named for the unique birds that live along the banks of North Carolina's rivers, opened in early August at 321 E. Chapel Hill St. next to the Durham Hotel. Business was good for the first seven months, which has helped enable them to pay rent for a few months despite being closed.