'Mixed bag of emotions' as businesses reopen after latest lockdown

As many Ontario businesses get set to welcome back customers Monday, some in Ottawa say they're happy to be throwing open their doors — but they're not sure how many more lockdowns they'll be able to survive.

Restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theatres and museums are able to open to the public with 50 per cent capacity indoors, with capacity limits set to be lifted completely March 14.

"There's, of course, a very strong sense of relief associated with opening ... but there's also this sense of exhaustion and concern and anxiety," said Hind Mubarak Brown, co-founder of The Vanitea Room, a downtown tea salon.

As the pandemic has dragged on, Mubarak Brown said she's dealt with "crippling fear" over whether customers will feel safe enough to return, and — if restrictions or lockdowns persist — whether she'll even have a business to return to.

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Despite government subsidies, loans and extensions, Mubarak Brown said the bills continue to roll in every month, whether or not the doors are open.

"I think for all of us, it's a mixed bag of emotions," she said. "You're really not sure if the business can pull its weight after it's been dragged through the mud repeatedly like this."

It's those continuous bills that are forcing Suzan Richards to dramatically cut back hours at Cultural Arts Studio.

Reopening will no longer mean six days a week of Afro-Caribbean arts and dance classes, but instead a single day for Richards to share her passion with children.

We only have so much time to recover before the road to recovery becomes a life's mission as opposed to just a chapter in our existence.​​​​​- Hind Mubarak Brown, co-founder of The Vanitea Room

"Tell me what business can survive four closures?" said Richards, the studio's founder and artistic director.

"[It's unfair] only being able to open at 50 per cent when you still have 100 percent of your bills to pay."

Richards said the studio offered more than just dance classes and was a space to celebrate Afro-Caribbean culture "loudly and proudly."

As people's exercise habits changed over the course of the pandemic, however, Richards found she can't compete with free online classes offered by bigger companies.

"I've had to look at, since people's habits have changed, is my business relevant and is it what people still need? Is it what people still want?"

Changing habits also have Mayfair Theatre owner Lee Demarbre wondering if the traditional theatre will still be able to thrive as he gets ready to welcome back moviegoers.

"I can express all I want about how safe it is to see [a film] at the Mayfair Theatre, and in the end, our demographic is seniors," he said.

"In the last two years, people have gotten really comfortable staying home and watching Netflix and Disney+ and maybe going to see movies in the theatre is becoming less advantageous," Demarbre said, adding he does believe true cinephiles will still flock to the Mayfair.

With everything small businesses have endured, business owners like Mubarak Brown hope this month's lockdown will be the last one imposed by the provincial government.

"We only have so much time to recover before the road to recovery becomes a life's mission," she said. "As opposed to just a chapter in our existence."