Churches, hair salons and shopping malls across the north re-open their doors
Restaurants and bars can welcome customers for the first time, but only on patios
For the first time in three months, people in northern Ontario will able to sit and eat at a restaurant, wander around a shopping mall or get their hair cut.
Phase 2 of the Ontario government's re-opening plan begins Friday in the region.
Dozens of businesses and services are now allowed to open including hairdressers, tattoo parlours, swimming pools, provincial parks, churches, mosques, restaurant patios and shopping malls.
The Valley Plaza Barber Shop had people lining up for haircuts on Friday morning, but aren't opening their doors until Monday.
"I hope everybody understands. If everybody can be patient, we'll take care of them. We miss them," says barber Debbie Blacklock.
Owner Rick Rivet says they've been busy getting the shop in the Hanmer area of Greater Sudbury ready for the new reality of physical distancing.
There are plastic sheets hanging between the barber chairs, towels have replaced brushes for cleaning hair off of shoulders, customers now have to make appointments and are no longer allowed to hang around and chat or read magazines, which the province doesn't want to see in barber shops at all.
"It's going to be a major adjustment for everybody," says Rivet.
Blacklock says she's going to have to get used to wearing a mask as she cuts hair and used to cutting hair around the masks customers are required to wear.
"I think we'll need a few minutes in between to take the mask off and breathe," she says.
"It seems kind of impersonal, but I guess it's the new norm and I guess we have to get used to it ... and we will."
"It's unsettling in some ways. It's different times. It's new days, it's new ways," says Brenda Folz, the marketing manager at the New Sudbury Centre.
"And hopefully our tenants are ready and they're excited as well."
She isn't sure how many of the mall's some 100 stores and services will be open on the first day or how many shoppers will come through the newly unlocked doors.
"Anticipating what I've seen locally, I think people are itching to get out and come shop, so I'm hoping there's a favourable response from our community," says Folz.
Things will look a little different in the mall. Food court seating is cordoned off, as are water fountains and some of the sinks and toilets in the washrooms.
Folz says customers are asked to stay apart as they make their way through the mall and be prepared for different restrictions in each store.
Restaurants and bars have spent the week trying to expand their outdoor seating so they can welcome more customers in phase two.
Most city councils in the northeast have loosened the rules around patios and waived the permit fees. North Bay planners are handling about a dozen requests for expanded patios and Sault Ste. Marie city staff have helped six eateries get their patios ready for re-opening.
Twiggs Coffee Roasters in Sudbury has one of the largest patios in the city with seating for as many as 90, already properly spaced out.
"It's going to be awesome for our business. Things have been a little tight, as for everyone," says co-owner David Russell.
"My concern is for the winter, so we're going to make hay while the sun is shining."
He says Twiggs has been fortunate to get a lot of takeout orders for the past few months and is happy his landlord has been open to applying for government assistance programs.
"At first it was difficult and, to be honest, a little scary," says Russell.
"We're three years old in August and if we were three months old, I think we'd be in a much different position."
The Anchor Inn in Little Current is moving its patio onto the sidewalk and neighbouring side street, boosting its outdoor seating from six tables to as many as 20.
"I'm sure there'll be obstacles that we're going to have to get over, but we're up to the challenge," says co-owner Denise Lytle-Callaghan.
"Haven't really come to a solution on what I will do if it starts to rain."
She's happy to be welcoming back some staff, although not close to the usual summer workforce of 50.
Lytle-Callaghan says after three months of just doing takeout, she's now taking on extra costs purchasing cleaning supplies, Plexiglas shields and extra tables and chairs.
She says she is taking a financial risk, not knowing how many customers she'll get, especially as Manitoulin Island might not see the usual influx of tourists this summer.
But Lytle-Callaghan isn't thinking about that as she gets ready for the grand re-opening.
"I'm so excited. I'm scared and I'm nervous, but I'm actively following every precaution that needs to be taken," she says.
"I am anxious. I haven't slept all night. But I can't wait. I can't wait to see everybody. I can't wait to have some hustle and bustle back downtown again."
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