Some business owners who are taking a fiscal hit as they follow provincial guidelines requiring them to limit their customers and sanitize surfaces frequently are saying they’re just happy to be open.
Longview's Twin Cities Hotel owner Chris Goss said he’s had to hire about 30 per cent more staff to keep up with the sanitization requirements established by Alberta Health Services, as well as reduce his seating capacity by less than half to meet the one metre physical distancing requirements as the province works to flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases.
“There’s added costs, but I don’t know what anyone can do about it,” he said. “It’s just great to be open. Fifty per cent capacity is where it has to be and we’re happy to deal with that.”
On May 15, Goss reopened his patio at half capacity for drinks only, as well as his Sugar Shack kiosk. The following week, he reopened the restaurant and staff began serving food.
“We cordoned off every other table to get our six-foot spacing and we cut our capacity to well below 50 per cent,” he said. “We clean tables, chairs and menus after every use and our bathrooms once every hour.”
In Black Diamond, Little Black Dress Consignment Boutique opened last week to some added expenses after being closed for almost three months.
“It’s costing us in staff time for the extra cleaning for sure, but we’re happy to do that to avoid spreading the disease,” said co-owner Judy Mackenzie.
Being closed for almost three months, Mackenzie said the shop had made no revenue.
“It’s been brutal,” she said. “We lost a lot of our sales season for spring so that’s going to determine the level of inventory we have in the store.”
While the shop was closed, Mackenzie and her staff spent hours cleaning and sanitizing every surface, installing hand sanitizing stations at the front door for customers to use upon entry and exit, creating more space in the store and placing decals on the floor to promote physical distancing.
“We’re allowing no more than five people in the store at a time,” she said. “Staff has been instructed to monitor that all day long and were given guidelines on what to do if it exceeds that number.”
In Turner Valley, the owners of Country Store Diner are also facing a combination of added costs and lost business since the pandemic hit Alberta in March.
“It is a challenge but we are managing,” said co-owner Kim Ellingson. “We’ve had to hire extra staff because of all the cleaning and sanitizing that we have to do.”
The diner, which offers take out, pick-up and dine-in on its patio only, has dipped into its rainy day fund to keep afloat, said Ellingson.
“There’s been a huge change in costs,” she said. “The rubber gloves we have to wear used to be $8 a box and they’re now $28 a box.”
The owners also have to content with a decline in customers.
“I don’t know whether it’s fear anymore as opposed to people don’t have the finances,” she said.
The owners refuse to increase the prices of their menu items to recoup costs, but Ellingson said they have started charging delivery fees now that customers can dine on the patio.
“When we first reopened and were doing takeout we had no delivery fees and we wasn’t accepting tips,” she said. “When we started adding the delivery fee people would get mad. We’re trying our best.”
Business has also declined for Diamond Valley Clothing Company in Black Diamond, which provides custom embroidery, silk screening and promotional products.
Co-owner Audra King said the business shut down for less than two weeks during the pandemic, yet it’s the cancellation of sporting and special events that's hitting them hard.
“Our income is almost totally shut off,” she said. “We get business from schools, sports teams and special events to make things like t-shirts. With everything still up in the air for sports and special events I don’t know if we’re going to have any of that business soon.”
King has received orders from schools for graduation items like hoodies and signage, but with summer on its way those orders will no longer be coming in.
“We were able to access money from the government, but that’s not going to be a permanent solution,” she said.
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