Another N.S. Shop Lost To The Pandemic
BRIDGEWATER–Another local business has been shuttered by the Covid-19 pandemic. EJ’s Fabulous Finds is closing down, two years after Covid-19 began.
Owner, Elizabeth MacLean has been operating the shop for 10 years, first in Bridgewater and later in Newcombville. She says business was going well until the pandemic hit.
“It’s really tough doing a small business,” she says. “I went pretty near two years with Covid where I didn’t get paid.”
In late January, they made the difficult decision to shut down the shop for good.
“We just can’t do it anymore; we did a good run of it,” MacLean said.
Over a decade in the making
EJ’s moved to North Street in Bridgewater from the Annapolis Valley in 2005. It later relocated to Newcombville.
MacLean’s store is no stranger to the pivot. Two name changes and several product changes later, what started as a dream bookstore now sells a collection of country décor, fashion, and books — “a little bit of everything,” as MacLean explains.
Unable to pivot once again to an online store, EJ’s struggled through the pandemic doing curbside pickup before finally calling it quits.
MacLean even picked up a second job during the pandemic to pay for the stock she couldn’t sell.
Falling through the cracks
As a one-woman show with no employees, MacLean’s store wasn’t eligible for many pandemic assistance programs. With those that she could get she had trouble navigating the paperwork.
“My business is done–it’s over. But I hope there’s a lot of small businesses that can get through the struggle and still make it,” she says.
While she’s working elsewhere, EJ’s will remain open part-time until September to sell off remaining stock. MacLean posts the store hours for the week on the Facebook page each Sunday night.
MacLean encourages people to support local shops.
Anastasia Payne is a reporter with CKBW in Bridgewater, a Huddle content partner.