The streetscape remains quiet in Lower Lonsdale, but inside the salons and restaurants, things are looking up.
With the province entering Phase 2 of its COVID-19 reopening, local businesses are trying to make up for lost time and lost revenue under some strict new public health guidelines.
North Vancouver Chamber CEO Patrick Stafford-Smith said, for the first time in months, he is feeling something close to optimism.
“I am encouraged by the businesses who I did speak with who were really having some challenges early on – very scared. They are beginning to open up and are much more optimistic. So I’m hoping that the casualties will be fewer than we think because now there is hope there,” he said.
At Lower Lonsdale barbershop/clothing store/coffee shop Goodlad, business is at about 20 per cent of what it was in April last year, according to owner Shane Meier, who was forced to lay off almost all of his staff.
Now he may have bragging rights for the first barbershop on the North Shore to reopen.
“As soon as the province A-OK’d personal services, I said let’s get it open. Let’s abide by the rules,” he said.
Barber April Letnes dons a mask while she works. If the client requests it, she’ll wear gloves. Goodlad will provide masks and gloves for customers upon request.
For his clients looking for haircuts, there is a lot of pent-up demand, Meier said.
“People look like cavemen,” he said. “[Letnes] is booked until June 1 or 2. We’re getting non-stop phone calls.”
In West Vancouver, some familiar businesses are gone and not coming back, said Maureen O’Brien, executive director of Ambleside and Dundarave Business Improvement Association.
“Ambleside is a little bit more resilient than I think Dundarave is right now. Dundarave was hit pretty hard,” she said. “Dundarave is going to need some TLC through this.”
The Red Lion Bar & Grill will open soon, but Starbucks, Rogers’ Chocolates and a few others won’t be coming back, she said.
The biggest challenge during the shutdown has been commercial rents. The federal government’s rent relief program opened up for applicants on Monday, but businesses won’t be eligible unless their landlords agree to forego 25 per cent of their rent and apply for the program, leaving many cut out.
After eight weeks of closures, Meat at O’Neill’s has reopened its lunch counter in Lower Lonsdale but, like all restaurants, they’ve had to reduce their capacity by 50 per cent and keep two metres of space between patrons at their lunch counter.
“So now we’re only at five seats,” said co-owner Shari O’Neill.
Because of the reduced capacity, they’ve had to change their hours and pivot to more takeout orders, but co-owner and chef Martin O’Neill said things are going in the right direction, thanks to a customer base that’s as loyal as family.
“This past Saturday was one of our busiest Saturdays since we opened,” he said.
They’re hoping to open a patio, but as it stands right now, Shari said it would require the city “making the hoops a lot smaller and less to jump through.”
She looked into it a couple years ago and decided there was too much red tape.
“It was just so daunting. It was hard enough to get this place up in the first place and then to go through the heartache and stress of doing that again, it’s not easy,” she said.
Stafford-Smith and O’Brien both said now is the time for North Shore residents to show up and give their local businesses some confidence to keep going.
“The best-case scenario is for people of West Vancouver to remember that it takes a village to make a village and these people need to get out and support their local community,” O’Brien said.
And the choices we make now will impact not just individual businesses but the economy as a whole, Stafford-Smith reasoned.
“The recovery is confidence and confidence is about optimism. And optimism, I don’t think is unfounded right now, because it’s going up. We can be scared, but the case-load has dropped. We’ve done the right things. We’ve shown we can work together. So let’s go get back on the train and help each other out and enjoy things we used to enjoy before, but do it respectfully,” he said.
And he added one more piece of advice.
“Tip big.”
