3 minute read
Be patient with your local biz, they’re doing the impossible for all of us
Last Word
BY SUZI WIEBE | suzi@prliving.ca
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Suzi works in sales and marketing for Powell River Living magazine. In her work to help people get their message out, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, she is all ears as she visits local businesses and organizations.
Do not be confused, business owners are not the ones groaning and complaining. It’s some customers who are.
In fact, stores and restaurants are incredibly happy to hear us–the public–on the phone, make orders online, and see us in our masks or physically-distancing in their businesses.
Granted, from a customer point of view, navigating between these new COVID-related protocols requires a little bit of work.
Businesses seem to have weird hours these days, 10-4, 11-3, noon-9, not to mention days of the week. Mon-Fri, Tues-Sat, Wed–Sat, Thursday & Friday, Saturday only. It’s confusing and frustrating.
Did you ever stop and ask why…?
And before you say it, no COVID-19 is not easier to catch before 11 or after 4 on any day of the week.
Powell River businesses need us and we need them. What goes on behind the scenes of these businesses may surprise you.
They could be struggling to get staff.
It may be hard for them to safely manage their space, being short- staffed.
Reduced hours could also be caused by reduced cash flow and visa versa.
Some owners are struggling to ensure they have enough stock or even get the product they need to open their doors.
COVID-19 has also taxed owners and staff with several more steps in their daily work life that means they may be putting in more hours before they can safely open for us and after they are closed. They are required to follow health guidelines and are checked by Worksafe BC.
But let’s get excited… businesses are opening and we can go inside, breathe in the retail experience we have missed so much, see other people, some you know some you don’t … but wait, what is this, they do not have my favourite widget!
There are empty spaces on the shelves, racks are sparse, but there we are trying not to touch too much, frustrated that we can’t find what we want so we groan and leave hoping to find it in the next store. Maybe you get lucky and do, but likely you will not.
Remember COVID? It shut down borders, factories, suppliers.
Businesses are frustrated, too. Some suppliers now require businesses to pay for the entire order before it is shipped; in some cases this is tens of thousands of dollars. Other suppliers have stopped shipping to small retailers; they are considered a risk should there be another shut down.
Some companies have cancelled entire orders and have stopped producing product lines and are now only selling their company’s top-sellers. This makes sense, right?
But with more stores opening, and less inventory to go around this creates shortages and gaps. Orders start arriving incomplete, in some cases less than half of what businesses originally ordered.
There is another side to the empty shelves and inventory gaps. Business owners can’t help but worry: “What if there is another wave and we get shut down? We cannot afford to be saddled with a huge inventory and no customers. We wouldn’t survive.”
Businesses are adapting as best they can, perhaps carrying fewer lines but curating products that are quality, current and keep the doors open. Restaurants are spending money with local farms and growers, and offering smaller menus so they are less likely to run out, but it happens, so try something new. Don’t linger too long at your favourite place; restaurants, coffee houses, bakeries have fewer tables that need to be turned over more often to make a profit.
Embrace tourism! (Not literally.) While we enjoy our paradise every day, up the lake, camping, fishing, hiking and biking, the tourists from near and far are here spending much needed dollars shopping, eating, renting, and staying. Our businesses need them; we need them.
Be patient. Our local businesses are working hard to survive with a new set of rules. Support as many as you can from clothing and food to hiring a service to buying lumber.
Remember to ask, if the store you are in doesn’t have what you are looking for, they may know of another local business that carries a similar product.
Support local. It’s good for all of us.
