The head of the Sarnia-Lambton Business Development Corporation (SLBDC) believes a “Small Business First” COVID-19 Retail Policy, proposed by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), would be a positive step forward.
The policy urges the Government of Ontario to implement a number of measures that would help small retailers safely salvage the remainder of the holiday season, including allowing all non-essential retailers to open to in-store sales.
SLBDC General Manager Don Anderson thinks the policy would be helpful for small retailers.
"Because certainly they were shut out where the larger stores got to continue to operate earlier on, even though it was at a reduced capacity. The ability to operate curbside and virtually for many of them, isn't there, so having the ability for people to visit the store I think would be helpful for their survival."
Having said that, Anderson believes the pandemic underscores the need to develop a virtual presence and the ability to do business electronically.
He added, because Sarnia-Lambton is still in 'yellow' status provincially, the policy wouldn't have any immediate effect in Sarnia-Lambton, but it certainly would be a concern moving forward if things got worse.
Anderson said for some businesses, further restrictions on sales or a complete lockdown, would probably prove fatal.
"If we moved into the 'red' status, you know for a lot of the businesses, having lost a good portion of the year earlier with lockdown, and then historically when you look at the retail industry, the Christmas season is where the profits are made and where are large portion of sales occur," said Anderson. "If they were to miss out on that season, I'm quite sure that there would be a number of businesses that just wouldn't have the ability to hang on much longer. There are some that will continue to claw their way through, but there's some that have had enough financial damage inflicted with the first lockdown that a second lockdown, I don't think they would be able to pull their way through."
Anderson said the key element in preventing a second lockdown is to follow public health officials advice to hopefully prevent any further lockdowns.
A recent CIBC study found that about two-thirds of Canadian business owners continue to feel the negative impacts of COVID, with more than half, 57 per cent, believing businesses in their area are in crisis mode and 43 per cent believing businesses are in recovery mode.
-With files from Stephanie Chaves
