How small P.A. businesses are surviving COVID-19

Brandy Mogg owns Dr. Java’s Coffee House on 15^th Street .E, and while missing the large volume of sit-down business they usually get, she’s delighted with the increased support from the community for her drive-thru.

“If people weren’t coming, we couldn’t remain open at this time,” she told paNOW. “And [the customers] are saying they are so happy we’re still open.”

Dr. Java’s in P.A. closed its sit-down section but the drive-thru is keeping them going. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

Mogg explained they’d always offered online ordering from their food and drink menu, but she’s now introduced a 10 per cent discount for such orders during the pandemic and is seeing an increase in sales. She’s even managed to bring back one of her employees she had to let go when she closed her restaurant section.

Thinking beyond the restaurant

Harry Rai, like many others in his industry, has seen an estimated 80 per cent drop in his business at Spice Trail Restaurant and The Lounge Trishna on Second Avenue. Only delivery or pick-up is permitted. He’s operating on skeleton staffing but remains both defiant and positive.

Like all other restaurants in town, the owners of the Spice Trail look forward to seeing their parking lot full again. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

“Like all those in hospitality we don’t back down; we don’t have an option,” he said.

And he’s already pondering new ideas to pay his bills because “you have to adapt in these unprecedented times.”

Spice Trail owner Harry Rai is set to offer cooking classes as a way of helping his business get by. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

“I am working on online classes in the coming weeks for a nominal fee. I could just give recipes, but with Indian cooking you have to know the techniques,” he said.

Yoga by laptop

Another local independent business owner is getting through these uncertain times thanks to technology. Tammy Fulton, the owner and one of the instructors at Yoga Sublime on Central Avenue, shut her doors soon after the State of Emergency was declared. But she started hearing from clients who missed the community and human connection.

Yoga by laptop: Yoga Sublime has seen a big interest in their live streamed classes over Zoom. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

“So, we’ve gone with live streaming via Zoom. Some studios are offering recorded sessions, but we wanted to give the students something live; they can talk among themselves before and after class,” Fulton explained.

She’s capped attendance at 14 people so she can still keep track of each student online and said they all seemed to be liking it. There’s now a growing waiting list. And, given these stressful times, being able to keep her business going is important.

Yoga Sublime closed its doors in line with COVID-19 health measures but has seen a surge in interest for online classes to maintain the sense of community. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

“In yoga we’re always talking about grounding and centering ourselves and taking ourselves out of that fight or flight,” she explained.

Life for small business after COVID-19?

Given the collapse of business because of the near total shutdown on society, it may well seem like fight or flight for many small enterprises, even as the online digital age has helped some keep their heads above water.

George Tannous is a professor of finance at the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business. He says the crisis of 2008 hurt financial institutions, while potash and oil remained relatively unscathed. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt everybody: from big businesses, to industry and the whole supply chain at a time when oil prices have also collapsed.

But when it comes to small business in Saskatchewan, he remains cautiously hopeful.

“Small and medium businesses are more effective locally than the international corporations so I would say we probably have a better chance to rebound quickly [compared to bigger centres,]” he said.

But he is concerned about the supply chain. Many retailers in the province are importing things, but if there’s no supply to sell that’s bad news, as is the case if businesses are trying to export products to regions of the world that have suffered economically, Tannous explained.

And what about the impact of the internet versus good old-fashioned face-to-face business? Tannous said what’s been happening in recent weeks may very well have a permanent impact.

“The human touch and the human connection is very important and I hear a lot of people saying there’s no substitute for that, but there are things that we used to do that did not need this touch,” he noted.

Hannous explained those who were commuting an hour each way in Toronto for example, or to cross the big city for a meeting, may now like the idea of tele-commuting and having two hours more each day for recreation – once the COVID-19 restrictions are over, of course. In Prince Albert and Saskatchewan he figured this new found preference for the computer for doing business or work would not be as great.

As we ponder how long we’ll have to do our yoga stretches by laptop, and refrain from sitting down for our coffee, cake or favorite tandoori dish, Hannous had some encouraging words for local businesses.

“If you’re having difficulty paying your bills, talk to your lender or banker, and just extend it for a few months until we are able to manage this pandemic and come out of it. There is light at the end of the tunnel; I don’t know how far it is, but there is no reason to panic at this time.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow

by Glenn Hicks

How small P.A. businesses are surviving COVID-19

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