Consumers in Waterloo region play pivotal role in keeping local businesses alive this holiday season

The rush for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals have traditionally drawn shoppers to the big, national stores. But this year, small local businesses are urging the community to consider them for holiday shopping sprees.

In Waterloo region, businesses have had to adapt to yet another change in COVID-19 restrictions in the province's red category. Others are fearful of a possible lockdown as case numbers continue to rise, adding another threat for stores that sell anything deemed non-essential.

"They're in survival mode," said Tracy Van Kalsbeek, Executive Director of the Uptown Waterloo BIA.

"Uptown Waterloo, probably more than anywhere in the region has been hit the hardest by the pandemic because we were just coming off of five and half years of construction and then COVID-19 comes along."

Van Kalsbeek said businesses in the Uptown area continue to be resilient by connecting with customers in new ways, but added it's also time for the public to step up to show support.

"These are the folks that, you know, they hire your kids. They sponsor your sports team. These are the people that we've gone to, [they] donate to our silent auctions and all of that kind of stuff, and they've done that for us for years and years and years and years, and now it's our turn to support them back," said Van Kalsbeek.

What's at stake 

Van Kalsbeek said the "support local message" seems to be getting across to the masses, with many shoppers  understanding what's at stake for business in the coming months.

"It's a message that really is resonating with people. I'm hearing it all over the place, from people that I know, I see it online, that people really are wanting to focus on hyper local, supporting our small local businesses, because we know that if we don't now, they're not going to be here for us tomorrow," she explained.

One business owner in New Dundee, Ont. said since the spring, she's seen how people have turned to local businesses as the community's economic landscape changed due to the pandemic.

"They were seeing stores shutting down and much-loved sort of 'landmark' businesses disappearing from their high street, and so we found that lots of people in our community and in our local population were really leaning into how important it is to keep things local and to to choose to support their local small businesses where possible," said Kate Cox, co-founder of Dundee Arts Collective.

Cox said the heightened appreciation for supporting small businesses was what pushed her and her business partner to take a risk by opening their arts store and gallery six weeks ago in the middle of the pandemic.

She said business has been going well, and she's hopeful the momentum will carry through the holiday season for Dundee Arts Collective and for other small businesses in the region.

"We've had lots of support from the K-W population ... This weekend, we've chosen to kind of leverage that Black Friday frenzy feeling by encouraging people to realize what power they have in where they choose to spend their money," explained Cox.

Pivotal role

"Consumers have a really pivotal role this weekend in keeping creativity flowing through the region. They ... really have a lot of power in keeping their dollars close to their doorstep and ensuring that their their local high streets don't don't change," she added.

Cox said it's hard to compete with the deals some of the big box businesses offer around the holidays, but added many local shops continue to play to their strengths by enticing customers with unique products, while implementing necessary COVID-19 safety precautions. 

Van Kalsbeek echoed Cox, and said it worth it for the public to go searching for the unique products or quality services often offered by small businesses.

Making use of new online shops, which many businesses sprang to create back at the start of the pandemic, or purchasing gift cards for services or restaurants are all positive ways to support local, said Van Kalsbeek.

"With the Christmas season coming up and the fact that we probably won't be having any Christmas parties like we normally would when we go out to restaurants, I would encourage people to think about doing a reverse Christmas party," shared Van Kalsbeek, suggesting workplaces order takeout meals for each other in lieu of a holiday get together.