Saint John Shops Going Virtual-Only To Help Curb Spread Of Covid-19
SAINT JOHN – A pair of boutique retailers on Germain Street have decided to close their shops temporarily and move online amid the COVID-19 outbreak in the Saint John health zone.
Under Public Health guidelines for the orange phase, businesses are not required to close down. However, Obscurity and Heartbreak Boutique have joined a growing number of restaurants, bars and retailers that have moved online or to curbside pickup or delivery over the past few days.
Obscurity co-owner Mishelle Carson-Roy said it wasn’t an easy decision, but that it felt right with case numbers steadily rising in the region over the past week.
“We really wanted to make sure that our customers were safe, that we remain safe, and all along everybody’s been pushing a narrative of having to do our part, and this was a calling for us to do our part,” Carson-Roy said.
Having only opened the doors to Obscurity in October, Carson-Roy and her co-owner Pam Wheaton wanted to ensure they were prepared to move online in the case of a coronavirus outbreak.
Wheaton also owns Heartbreak Boutique just a few shopfronts away. She says it was especially difficult to close up shop during the holiday shopping season.
“It’s the worst possible time,” she said. “It’s very lucky that we have the online component, and that people are ordering online. But it’s a little trickier with Heartbreak Boutique because it’s clothing, and people like to try clothes on.”
Carson-Roy said despite the disappointment of announcing Obscurity would temporarily move online-only on Tuesday, the community showed up to support the shop quickly.
“The amount of local support we’ve had has been overwhelming in the best possible way,” she said. “Even people as far as Alberta have submitted online orders to help support us.”
Moving online-only does mean some extra work for the pair. Wheaton said the first pandemic shutdown in March significantly upped her workload as she was suddenly juggling multiple social media posts per day, and communicating with customers while taking fitting photos of clothing.
Despite the difficulties of shutting down and the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic, Carson-Roy says the shops are preparing to battle through the holiday season.
“We’re not going down without a fight, and we’re going to put our best foot forward and make sure everybody’s going to have what they need for the holiday season. We’re going to be like little elves, packaging everything up and sending them off.”
Ben Burnett is a reporter with Country 94/97.3 The Wave, Huddle content partners.