After a rough year, London retailers brace for another lockdown

It's already been a bumpy year for retailers and now it's clear the start of 2021 won't be any easier. 

On Monday, Premier Doug Ford announced Ontario would go into a province-wide lockdown, starting Boxing Day. Ford said it's a painful but necessary move to try and slow down a sharp upward swing in COVID-19 infections, a trend he said could bring catastrophic crowding at hospitals if it can't be reversed. 

The new measures mean all non-essential businesses must close to walk-in customers, and essential businesses that remain open will have stricter capacity limits than the ones already in place in lockdown zones. Stores will now only be permitted to a 25 per cent capacity limit rather than 50 per cent. 

London is currently under the red (control) restriction but this move will essentially move London into the Grey (lockdown) restrictions already in place in hard-hit areas like Windsor, Peel and Toronto.

Malls that are deemed essential services can still have walk-in customers, though under extreme restrictions. Delivery and curbside is still allowed. 

CBC News visited London's White Oaks Mall on Monday just as Ford was making his announcement. 

Here's a sample of how retailers reacted to the news. 

Kitchen Stuff Plus

Lisa Bowman said the business she works managed to find ways to safely sell during the last shutdown, and she's confident they'll be able to do it again. 

"It's disappointing we're going into a lockdown but it's understandable," she said. "You've gotta do what you've gotta do."

Bowman said Kitchen Stuff has a robust web store, which she said helped keep inventory moving during the last lockdown. Also, the store in White Oaks Mall has an exterior door, which helps with curbside pickup, which will be allowed during the lockdown. 

"We're still bringing in sales, we're still able to keep everybody working," she said. "This mall has been very good with us."

And although she estimates traffic in the mall is down by about 50 per cent, she's selling a lot of kitchen supplies with people stuck inside at home.

"Everybody's cooking and I'm a kitchen company so it's allowed our sales to keep us active so we're lucky that way." 

T-Shirt Time

Matthew Saunders became manager of T-Shirt Time while the pandemic first emerged in the spring.

Since then, he and his colleagues have been able to stay connected with customers even though customers couldn't actually visit the retail store. 

"Luckily with a place like this, it can happen anywhere," he said. "What will probably happen is a lot of our equipment will go to other people's houses and we'll just run the business off of Instagram and Facebook Marketplace."

Saunders said this has been a good year for the store, despite having to react to almost constantly changing rules and restrictions. 

"It's been fun," he said, with only a whiff of sarcasm. 

Wow! Mobile Boutique

Fahad Kahn works at Wow! Mobile Boutique and says that as an essential service, his business won't have to close during the lockdown. 

But with other businesses in the mall closed or restricted, the lockdown will hurt his bottom line. 

"Last year was a stellar year for us I think this year we're down about  60 per cent overall," he said. 

"It's been a strange year for everyone, to say the least."