Don’t Stay Home, Go Out And Stay Safe, Say Saint John Café Owners
SAINT JOHN — As Saint John cafés and coffee shop owners brace for the financial impact of the “orange” phase will bring, they want to remind people it’s still safe to visit them during this time.
Though the “orange” phase means people can only drink and dine out with those in their single household bubble, restaurants and cafés are still allowed to operate within their Covid-19 operational plan.
But many people are staying home, making an already slow time of year for cafés and restaurants, even more tough.
Ingrid Woodhouse, the owner of Pivot Café on Water Street, says she saw a revenue decline of 75 percent when several health zones, including Saint John’s Zone 2, went into the orange phase at the end of last year. That means, the business brought in only 25 percent of the revenue it needed to break even.
Earlier that year, the business, then known as Bunakhaus, had to close down its hostel business due to the pandemic. Back in the fall, the business pivoted to turn the former hostel space into a pole dancing and yoga studio.
“It was pretty devasting. We’ve been hobbling along with Covid. We lost our hostel business and tried to pivot to add the pole dancing and everything,” says Woodhouse. “Luckily we were able to keep that open but the café business completely dwindled and we really didn’t have much business at all so that made it really challenging.”
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Up on nearby Prince William Street, business at The Art Warehouse during the last orange phase wasn’t any better.
“It almost felt like a full stop,” says owner Hazel Cochran. “I think people just really stayed home and it’s hard to make money when everybody is staying at home.”
Cochran said not only were people staying home in hopes of returning to the less restrictive “yellow” phase by Christmas, but people were also no longer allowed to meet up with friends, family, and colleagues, which contributed to the decrease in business.
“A lot of customers would come in for meetings, whether it’s business meetings or to meet friends to sit down to have a coffee. With orange, we obviously can’t do that with the one-household bubble rule. I suspect the same thing this time around,” she says.
“I’m trying to be optimistic. I’m hoping people are not as nervous as the first time … but if today’s sales were any indication, it’s not going to be good.”
But Cochran says she and other cafés and restaurants in the city are following the rules set by Public Health to ensure a clean, safe experience for guests.
“We’re following everything public health is telling us. They’re not saying you can’t go out. They’re saying, ‘these are the policies we have in place to keep everyone happy and healthy,'” she says. “I don’t know if ‘stay home’ is the message we want to send people. I think it’s ‘wear your masks, wash your hands and do all the things we’re supposed to be doing.”
Woodhouse thinks the province’s messaging needs to change.
“It comes back to the messaging, and the messaging is so confusing. On the one hand, they’re saying ‘stay home’ then, on the other hand, they’re saying, ‘You’re safe as long as you follow these rules,'” she says.
I think the messaging really needs to get revamped and it needs to be changed to say that it is safe to go out, you just need to be careful and you need to follow the rules.”
There are many ways people can help support local cafes right now, even if they’re not comfortable sitting inside. Whether it’s buying a gift card or coffee beans, or simply just grabbing a coffee-to-go. Sharing your favorite shop’s post on social media can also make a difference by raising awareness to others in your network who may not know about the business.
“Everything makes a difference right now because everything is so tight. Buying a bag of beans, dropping in for a coffee or a latte, anything at all. Let’s keep it uptown and keep our community strong,” says Cochran.
“These are our neighbours and those people are breathing life into the city. Not just myself, but people who own restaurants and putting themselves out there. If we don’t support them, they’re not going to be there. When we’re over this, there’s not going to be anything left to do after when we’re all free.”
More Government Support Needed
Woodhouse says Pivot Café was able to take advantage of some of the federal programs offered to support small businesses during the pandemic such as rent relief and wage assistance, and the CEBA zero-interest loan.
On Tuesday, the province announced that through Opportunities New Brunswick, grants of up to $5,000 are available for small businesses that have been subject to orange or red level measures for at least one week between Oct. 10, 2020, and March 31, 2021.
Though the support is appreciated, Woodhouse says it’s not enough.
“It’s just crumbs compared to the losses we’ve had this year,” she says. “Of course, I’m grateful for it. I don’t want to sound like I’m ungrateful, but it won’t come close to recouping losses.”
When it came to qualifying for the federal government relief program, the Art Warehouse wasn’t so lucky. Having opened in February 2020, a month before the pandemic arrived, Cochran says they weren’t able to meet all the criteria.
“We slipped through the cracks in a lot of ways where had just opened in February,” she says. “It was a whole lot of bad timing.”
Cochrane says she will be taking advantage of the recent announce grant program if she can. But she says would like to see the federal government expand the criteria for its rent and wage subsidies for newer businesses that opened just before or during the pandemic could qualify.
“I know a few other people who are going through the same thing,” she says. “They just opened right before Covid or during and they’re not meeting the benchmarks to get these subsidies, we’re not meeting them.”