Tracey Baker isn’t looking back.
Sure, the pandemic has been painful for merchants and business owners, but coming through a happy and successful Christmas season reveals some bright spots as well some lessons learned and pandemic-induced practices that some have permanently adopted.
“We were the first to do live, in-store events,” the owner of ZuZu Fashion Boutique on Dunlop Street East told BarrieToday.
On April 30, 2020, well over a month after the pandemic was declared an emergency in Canada, ZuZu held its first Facebook Live event. Baker wanted to maintain contact with her clients and followers during the shutdown and thought presenting the store along with special items right in the comfort of viewers’ homes might be worth a shot.
It turned into a big driver for the downtown Barrie store.
The almost weekly live events, now on Instagram as well as Facebook, endures and has become part of ZuZu’s way of doing business. They have evolved from an alternative way of selling items to expanding the brand beyond geographical limitations and creating wider exposure.
“The thing that’s been so surprising but really rewarding, of course we reach a larger audience geographically. … They (viewers) have never been in the store, but they come in,” Baker said. “It’s been a really fun experience to see people who feel like they know us. It’s amazing.”
Two blocks down, Nutrition Plus Community Health Market prepared early on to reduce traffic, but found there was hardly a need to station an employee at the door. Customers who had been coming to the store two or three times in a week reduced their visits, so they might only come every two or three weeks.
The constant flow of traffic means that the store never reaches capacity, making the restrictions easier to manage, said owner Jason Ing.
In the ever-changing environment of what customers need, regular operations now are no longer normal or static, he added, pointing to phone orders and curbside pick-ups as examples.
“Even with our team, it’s been a bit more predictable, but it’s definitely not normal,” Ing said.
And, as the pandemic persisted, Ing noticed shoppers who had never been to the store starting to come in.
“We’ve seen a lot of new faces, new people moving to Barrie, which I think is exciting (and) one of the positive side effects of the pandemic,” said Ing. “People are moving north to, I guess, take advantage of the things we take for granted.”
Some of these new customers wanted to find the kinds of shops and places they had frequented in Toronto or the communities they had just left. Or they’re exploring their new home, keen to become part of the community and to support local establishments.
Ing anticipates more of that with several condominium and apartments projects planned to increase the permanent population in the core, which he expects will provide a much-needed economic infusion coming out of the pandemic.
Jill Dyck, too, made what have become permanent changes to Bohemia coffee store in the core. The hours are reduced, operating Wednesdays to Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sundays until 2 p.m.
And Dyck decided not to be all things to all people, but rather focus on its strength, which is making “rustic” home-baked goods, including the Christmas cakes they’ve been making for 18 years and cookie boxes this year.
“It was good, people got it,” said Dyck. “I feel very fortunate, first of all, that I’ve survived and that people have been willing to just go along with me.
“I felt like people were really focused on supporting local and helping us out. … And even though we were only open three days last week, it would have been like almost a normal week," she added.
That was particularly encouraging since Bohemia found it had to recently increase its prices, Dyck said.
Across the street, Sunny Jung felt the support at her nearly five-year-old Everleigh Garden boutique gift store.
“We do have a really great customer base,” she said. “It was busy.”
Although, this year Jung opted to run the shop mostly on her own during the holidays instead of having two people working. That proved a good move, she said, given that although she was happy with business, she didn’t see the 20 per cent increase she had anticipated.
On a down side, the store has experienced three break-ins since the start of the pandemic prompting Jung to consider making changes, which could include moving in the future.
With new approaches in place, shop-local initiatives and a downtown facelift accompanied by special events and new events, store owners say things are generally looking up.
“I’m pleasantly surprised with how our season went. We had customers come in to shop; they wanted to support local,” said Baker, of ZuZu. “We had more people come in specifically for gifts — I brought in things that were more gifty this year.
“And we had more men this year than I ever recall.”
