LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. -- The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been focused mainly on protecting public health, but the impact it has had on business can’t be overstated.
For dozens of small businesses, in southern Alberta and everywhere else, really, it's been monumentally, once-in-a-lifetime awful.
The Lethbridge Region Economic Recovery Task Force recently conducted a survey to hear directly from those impacted and to get their heads around the impact local small and medium-sized businesses are facing.
They received 256 responses to the survey, 182 from within the city and 74 from within the region, showing that 51 per cent of businesses have reduced staff, 78 per cent have seen a reduction in sales, and 41 per cent said they can survive no more than three months in the current climate without additional support.
“The survey results are extremely helpful as we work to understand the effects of COVID-19 and plan for new strategies that will aid our recovery and help us to continue to move our economy forward,” Economic Development Lethbridge CEO Trevor Lewington said.
Last week, the federal government announced the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program for small businesses, which for some could help lower rent by 75 per cent by providing forgivable loans.
Lewington says that’s a good next step on top of other measures the federal government has rolled out recently.
“After labour, typically rent and the physical property is one of the larger costs for businesses. So, we see that as the government sort of addressing the big priority spend items for people,” Lewington added.
That money hasn’t come through for a lot of businesses just yet, however, and those in sectors like hospitality and tourism have suffered significantly since the beginning of the pandemic.
Restaurants take big hit
Restaurants like Mocha Cabana and Mocha Local as an example continue to fight an uphill battle.
They’ve seen a significant decline in sales, had to lay off staff they consider like family and had to close the restaurant for a month which cost them $150,000 in anticipated revenue, which is a big hit for a business of Mocha Cabana’s size.
While they’ve been aided by support from the local community through online purchases at Mocha Local, it’s still a far cry from just a few months ago.
“While Mocha Local volume has grown, the volume in sales dollars is only half of what Mocha Cabana would do in a week,” co-owner Angel Harper explained. “Mocha Cabana, well it was down 100 per cent because we were closed for a month, but we’ve been re-open for takeout and delivery and we’re down 70 per cent in sales volume.”
Mocha Cabana was one of the 256 businesses to weigh in on the Recovery Task Force, to explain the experience there.
“We believe in having our voice heard because if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem, so we shared our views and did the survey right away,” Harper said.
The unfortunate part for Mocha Cabana is it falls within all three of the finds of the survey.
“Our volume is hugely down. If you took Mocha Cabana and Mocha Local together, we’re still down like 40 per cent overall. Three months? I don’t know how we do this, you can only defer for so long, and in terms of staff, we laid off all 30 of our staff and we only have 10 back right now working reduced shifts and hours,” Harper stated, adding this is affecting so many lives.
With an uncertain future, Harper and fellow co-owner Jaclyn Geddes are just trying to do their best to tackle things day by day.
“It’s doing the best we can and hoping for the best. And trying to come up with some more innovative ideas on how we can get our product to our customers without them having to come here,” Harper said.
The Recovery Task Force is planning to do another survey in a few weeks to benchmark and track the progress of businesses along with the impact evolving supports from various levels of government are having.
