On Tuesday, Phase 1 of Ontario’s plan to reopen the economy begins, with retail stores who have exterior entrances being allowed to open their doors and invite customers inside for the first time in two months.
Marty Williams, executive director of the Downtown Guelph Business Association, welcomes the move.
“I think the idea that we can open doors on non-essential retailers, not just curb side or delivery, is a good news story,” said Williams. “The best part of that good news story is that we are healthy enough collectively to be able to do that.”
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement on Thursday. It applies only to retail services not in shopping malls and which have separate street-front entrances.
Many retailers will be able to open as early as 12:01 a.m. on May 19, provided the general trend on health indicators continues to improve.
The provincial also announced Thursday was 258 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the province over the previous 24-hour period. That is the lowest number of daily cases reported since late March.
Williams said the hardest part for retailers in Downtown Guelph will be to know the rules and work within them.
Retailers who wish to open to the public will have to put in place measures that can enable physical distancing, like booking appointments beforehand and limiting the number of customers in the store at any one time.
“What does it all mean? It’s a bit of a slog to get through,” he said.
Williams believes it’s up to everybody — retailers, customers and everybody else — for the reopening to run smoothly.
“I don’t think any police or bylaw officers are going to bust down any doors with a tape measure and a clicker to count people,” said Williams. “The thing we have to do collectively as a society and as a city is to believe that everybody who has a store open will do whatever they need to do to keep their staff and customers safe so we can all be safe.”
Shakiba Shayani, Guelph Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, agrees.
“As a community at large we still have to maintain physical distancing so that those who are opening can be successful because all it takes is a few poor choices and we could all be in a bad place again,” said Shayani.
She acknowledges that not all businesses will be ready and able to reopen on Tuesday.
“I think it’s smart and incumbent on businesses to reflect upon whether or not they feel comfortable in (opening). That is key here, there are a lot of suggestions and guidelines for a business to follow and if a business is unable to do so it is important to take the time to implement that,” said Shayani.
That's where the Guelph Chamber of Commerce can help, she said.
One of the priorities for the chamber is to ensure its member businesses have all of the information they need to wade through the new guidelines, said Shayani.
“At the end of the day it’s the health and safety of employees that needs to be put at the forefront. We don’t want to be put in the position as a community to be forced to take a step backward. We might as well take a careful step forward to begin and go from there,” she said.
One initiative the chamber is working toward is an effort to source personal protective equipment — like masks and hand sanitizer — for small and medium businesses.
“We know small or medium businesses don’t have the purchase power the same way that a larger company does, so how do we bring them together to do that?” said Shayani.
The chamber is also hosting a webinar on May 29 to help guide businesses to transition back into operation as restrictions are lifted.
“We are using local stakeholders to provide that content and public health will be on the call and a few others,” said Shayani.
Williams said he supports a call from MPP Mike Schreiner, Mayor Cam Guthrie and MP Lloyd Longfield to ask the provincial government to cease commercial rent evictions.
“It’s really important that these businesses survive through this pandemic. We would lose so much if we see vacancies and bankruptcies in places like this,” said Williams. “One landlord’s vacancy impacts the viability of the store that is next door to it. The fewer things attracting people to an area, the fewer people come.”
Shayani said the businesses most at risk of closing their doors forever are retail establishments and restaurants.
“We are definitely going to see small businesses, retailers and restaurants have to stay closed, unfortunately. We will see how that goes in the coming weeks,” said Shayani.
She hopes Thursday’s announcement will be a beacon of hope for some business owners who are weighing whether or not to stay open.
“I think we are getting to a place where if they are still open now and have weathered the storm then they will be able to continue to evolve and open back up again,” she said.
