Some Ontario businesses pivot to curbside ahead of possible imposed restrictions

After months of reacting to varying pandemic directives from public health units and the Ontario government, several area businesses are proactively choosing to change direction on their own, from in-person to curbside pickup. 

With rising COVID-19 case counts and concerns over the Omicron variant, the businesses are focusing on two bottom lines:

• The human bottom line to protect their staff and customers.
• The financial bottom line — which is primarily to stay open and operating.

Jared Ferrall, one of the owners of Crafty Ramen, which has locations in Guelph, Kitchener as well as an online do-it-yourself menu, said the shift to just takeout was an easy decision.

"In Guelph, we had just installed glass and stuff like that to open up more of our dining room since the restrictions dropped [last fall]," he said about making preparations to welcome back customers. 

"We did that about three days before we closed our dining rooms."

Ferrall said the Crafty Ramen in-dining locations are small, and with the 50 per cent capacity allowed, the Kitchener restaurant could only seat 30 people; in Guelph, the smaller of the two locations could only sit 10 or 12 people.

Farrell said seats normally allowed for in-person dining are now being taken up by food delivery service drivers.

Customers accepting 

Greg Durocher, president and CEO of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, said that after nearly two years running a location under a pandemic, owners have learned how to keep their business operating.

"So it probably makes sense from some businesses' perspective to not risk it and say, 'Look, we're probably going to end up there anyway, so let's start it right now, and start promoting [curbside pickup]  and marketing it.'" 

Durocher said customers have come to accept the new curbside business model since the pandemic started, and believes entrepreneurs and businesses have done an "exceptional job of being able to keep their business alive through this form." 

"If you would have said ... five years ago, I'm going to open a restaurant that doesn't have any seats in it, and I'm just going to rely on curbside pickup, you wouldn't have one person loan you one dollar for that venture. But today, we've kind of become accustomed to it."

Not just food  

Lee Valley Tools also announced it was suspending its in-store operations, including a location in Waterloo, until at least Jan. 10. 

"I am not comfortable with asking our staff to expose themselves to an unknown level of risk," said CEO Robin Lee in a statement posted on the company website.

"I completely understand how inconvenient this is, and that some of you will not agree with this decision and I accept the responsibility for that. As a company, we have to look at the health and safety of our staff first."

Lee said all stores across Canada will be open during set hours for curbside pickup.

Legions close doors temporarily

Some Royal Canadian Legions in Waterloo region and the surrounding area have also temporarily closed their doors as a precautionary measure.

Jim Meyer is on the executive at the Waterloo Legion Branch 530 and oversees 12 other legions in the area. 

"We made a decision simply because of the high COVID-19 numbers and the demographics, the age of our members [who are] over 55," said Meyer.

Along with the legion in Waterloo, two branches in Kitchener, Elmira, New Hamburg and other locations outside the region in Guelph and Stratford have also temporarily closed their doors.

Meyer said the closure meant the Waterloo location had to cancel some scheduled events, including a New Year's Eve dance. But he said a popular takeout meal service is scheduled to continue.