Business landscape complex in Waterloo region during COVID-19 pandemic

On Feb. 16, Aileen Leadbetter, owner of Cobblestone Gallery in Waterloo, wrote on Facebook she was excited to be able to welcome customers back into the gallery.

She warned the shelves were not as fully stocked as they normally would be at this time of year. 

"Please bear with us as we restock. We weren't able to do much ordering during lockdown and we're going to try to get back to normal as best we can," the Facebook status said.

A month later on March 12, Leadbetter announced she was closing the gallery's physical store and moving online. Since then, she has been selling off stock and even getting rid of the shelving and glass cases.

Leadbetter says they applied for provincial grant money to help during the pandemic.

"We received grants, for which we were very grateful, but in spite of that we weren't able to stay afloat," she said.

"I'm not sure it's a case of the government failing us, but the fact that the majority of our customers are people traveling and people buying gifts for weddings and other celebrations — and those industries just died during the pandemic."

'I appreciate the help'

Other businesses in the region faced similar uncertainty, particularly during lockdowns.

Cyndee Lavoie owns Luxe Touch Consignment, a high end consignment store in Cambridge, and Picture Us, a photo booth rental company.

Lavoie says she owns her own building, which meant she didn't have to pay rent and that helped. 

She said "very loyal" customers moved online for the consignment store and she was able to book the booths into area malls over the holidays to take the place of photos with Santa.

Lavoie considers herself lucky. She was able to pivot and she utilized some provincial cash which means she was able to weather the pandemic.

"Federally and provincially … I think it helped. It's great. I appreciate the help for sure," she said. "I don't have the overhead that a lot of other businesses have, you know, like restaurants or even smaller retailers that may be located in a mall or paying rent, so I feel like I helped myself more than the government helped me."

She says she would have benefitted from more help at the regional and city level, such as a reduction in utility costs or delayed tax payments.

Tourism, hospitality hit hard

Mark Bingeman says his business, Bingemans in Kitchener, is focused on tourism and hospitality which have been hit hard by the pandemic.

The Big Splash waterpark wasn't allowed to open last summer due to COVID-19 restrictions and the other parts of Bingemans, including large halls that are usually booked for weddings, trade shows and other large events, have sat empty.

"We've always been very fortunate to be very diversified in the hospitality industry and unfortunately being diversified in hospitality has not been a bonus in the COVID times," he said.

Camping has been the bright spot for them, he said. It was allowed last year, and he says he expects another "fantastic" season this year. They've also moved to several outdoor events including drone shows, concerts, drive-in movies and a dinosaur drive-thru experience.

Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris says businesses in the hospitality and tourism sector have been the most affected by COVID-19. 

"Over the past year, I've made myself available to these business owners and shared their unique challenges with my government colleagues," he said.

"I will continue to work with local attractions and help them access the recently announced supports in our province's 2021 budget."

Last year, the province started a small business support grant to help business owners cover expenses. The payments were between $10,000 and $20,000 and the program was renewed in Wednesday's budget.

The budget also added money to the digital main street program, which helps businesses launch online platforms to offer their products and services.

Budget shows small business matters

Greg Durocher, president and CEO of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, says he felt the budget gave a boost to small businesses and showed the province is listening.

"Not only do we help people get through this from a health perspective, but we also help people and businesses get through the financial outcomes as well," he said.

"I think what the government has really displayed by [the] budget is to say … small businesses in our communities across Ontario are certainly as important as anything else."

He says the grant funding will go a long way to help the city's hospitality sector and small businesses.

"We're in unprecedented times and there comes a time where government has to analyze its fiscal position and maybe make investments, strategic investments, that are going to help us get through this so that we can build an economy and build a healthcare system that can prevent such a devastating blow to our economy in the future," he said.

'Ridiculous in a good way'

Some businesses have thrived during the pandemic.

Alnoor Keshvani of Loop, a clothing store in Waterloo, shifted his focus to online shopping. In-person shopping is now by appointment only. When someone goes into the store, they pay a fee to have a curated, personalized shopping experience.

Keshvani said they started working on the business model for two years before the store had to shut down last March because of the pandemic. Before COVID-19, he says it may have been a hard sell to ask people to pay to go into a  store to shop. But the pandemic has changed the way so many people shop and do business that it made the switch an easy transition.

"The last year for us from a business standpoint has been ridiculous and ridiculous in a good way," he said. "We thought, OK, this is a great time for us to implement this and honestly, it's our business model going forward."

He said the move allows them to build a stronger client base while still serving people who want to purchase only a  single item online.

"I hate to say it, but it's been great for us," he said. "We're working less, we're making just as much money if not more and at the end of the day, we have a life."

He says while he did well, he still has concerns for grocery store workers, retailers, food delivery drivers and Uber drivers who are frontline workers who kept the people fed and moving during the pandemic.

"My hat goes off to them," he said. "I get it, this was new to all of us and overall I think the government has done a really, really good job for the most part … obviously mistakes have been made but at the same time, I think overall, things have actually been OK."

Keep stores open

Lavoie says the January shutdown was a tough one for the consignment store and she hopes any further shutdowns can be avoided.

"If a third shutdown should happen, I'm getting a little wary and impatient with the shutdowns," she said.

"We need to find a way to keep us open and keep us moving forward. We're doing our part. The government knows ... small businesses are doing our part and they need to support that and they need to make sure that they are acknowledging that."

She said as the municipal, provincial and federal governments plan for the future, she hopes they continue to ask the people who own businesses what they most need.

"I do think that it's important that small businesses are heard and that they have a voice and that moving forward, we are the backbone of the economy," she said.