New restrictions for retail stores go into effect at midnight with regulations limiting the number of people allowed in shops and malls at one time, but health officials are going one step further, asking shoppers to stay at home altogether, except when shopping for essential items.
The new restrictions say stores must restrict shoppers and staff to 25 per cent or less of the allowed capacity and so many retailers are having to change their retail model altogether at a time when many stores are usually ay their busiest — ahead of the holiday and Christmas season.
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“We made the switch to appointment only shopping over the weekend and we are now also offering online shopping,” said Kimberley Dares, owner of The Trainyard General Store located on Portland Street in downtown Dartmouth, N.S.
As a general store, Dares says they carry a little bit of everything and in past have relied solely on customers coming into the store but when the first-wave of COVID-19 hit the business had to adapt quickly.
On Tuesday, Premier Stephen McNeil and Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, held a press conference announcing the list of new restrictions just at the second wave of COVID-19 has reached the Maritimes.
Along with restrictions the province is calling on all Nova Scotians to eliminate non-essential travel, while McNeil was adamant, warning residents to avoid going in and out of the greater Halifax region for non-essential trips, like to the mall for holiday shopping.
“If you’re coming in here to go shopping then stay home,” said McNeil at the press conference on Tuesday. “You have lots of places to shop where you live.”
Tim Rissesco, the executive director with the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission, said with the new health restrictions in place and residents being told to stay home, businesses had to adjust quickly to meet their customers online where the marketplace has shifted.
“Part of our charm back in March was that we were a small town and you could come into our shops and then the pandemic hit and we were caught a little off guard,” said Rissesco. “But people have learned all kinds of lessons since March. So we are much more tech-savvy now and we’re online and we’ve adapted better to serving our customers in a pandemic world.”
Further East along Portland Street, the online orders are flying out of the door at the New Scotland Clothing Company, where instead of setting up Christmas kiosks in local malls, the clothing company is expanding its online presence.
“This year forced us to kind of do more online and maybe a little fewer bricks and mortar stuff than what we’ve done in the past, but that’s just the way retail is going,” said owner Kevin Saccary.
As far as the new restrictions go, New Scotland Clothing Co. had already limited the number of customers allowed inside the storeroom and they’ve gotten creative with some new distribution techniques amind the pandemic.
“We’re doing curbside pickup and we have our delivery van,” said Saccary. “So we’re going to be doing deliveries throughout the week as well.”
Back at the Trainyard General Store business boomed overnight since the new restrictions were announced.
“Between seven o’clock last night and seven o’clock this morning we had thirty orders come in and a full day of appointments booked,” said Dares.
It seems supporting local is already catching on during the pandemic.
Jim Cormier Atlantic director of the Retail Association of Canada says the new restrictions on store capacity will hurt bigger retail chain stores like grocers and hardware stores, more so than the smaller independent businesses.
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“When it comes to capacity it hurts the larger retailers the most, they will be the ones seeing a lot less people going into those stores,” said Cormier. “But the challenge is you’ll have less people inside but you’ll see those long lines of people waiting outside to get in.”
The long lines can pose a health risk but also a security risk says Cormier and reminds shoppers that this isn’t the retailers that have come up with these restrictions, it’s a public health and it’s important for shoppers to keep their patience.
“Understand that if you are reminded about keeping physical distance or being told that you can’t come into the store exactly when you want to, remember it’s not the retail clerk that came down with these rules,” said Cormier. “They are simply enforcing the rules that they are being told to enforce.”