Regina small businesses still impacted by pandemic
Small businesses in the city are still dealing with the fall out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chris Plumb, owner of Mercury Cafe and Grill, said the pandemic has been tough on business, with the diner generating enough money to keep the employees paid.
“The first year was fine, and then the second time around it wasn’t quite as good and now we’re in the third time around and it’s awful,” said Plumb.
Feeling like he had no where else to turn, Plumb made a plea to the community on social media.
“That’s who has supported us 12 years in business now almost, so I’ve got to turn to them and hope they come out and I mean people have been supportive,” said Plumb.
The diner has already seen an impact from the post, with a little bit of a lunch rush on Wednesday afternoon, which gives him hope the local diner can survive.
Plumb said local support is what’s needed right now, the Green Spot Cafe is relying on customer support right now as well.
“It’s been pretty tough, as you know, for all businesses, but we try our best to keep going and we’ve got really good customers and they support us,” said Sunshine Cheang, owner of the Green Spot Cafe.
The Green Spot, located in Agriculture Place, is celebrating 15 years if business in the Queen City, Cheang is looking forward to things starting to get back to normal.
“The tower people are coming back and they’re all excited to be here and they’re all really happy to see us and support us,” said Cheang.
Plumb dreams of the day when the pandemic is over and people flood to restaurants and bars, reminiscent of the end of the Spanish Flu pandemic, but for now, said everyone needs to support small businesses during these hard times.
“Whether it’s here or at another cafe or another restaurant or another store or anything, stay local as much as you can right now, it’s really important,” said Plumb.
Janis Procyk, owner of Brick and Mortar, said there was a big push for shopping local last fall, but added sales were down this Christmas season.
She said moving to a better location has helped them stay afloat, but they are also working on building a customer loyalty base.
“I think we’ll be okay and we’ll figure it out,” said Procyk, “It’s kind of a perpetual wheel of nothing is ordinary and you’re just constantly straining your brain and trying to do absolutely anything to keep the doors open.”
Opening the shop in the fall of 2019, it has been a hard few years for Brick and Mortar and for all small businesses.
Procyk said there is a common mentality of people being stressed out and fed up with the pandemic.
“It would be nice if people could kind of have some compassion, or show a little bit more forgiveness for their small businesses and just lean on them and help them out more than they necessarily generally would."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.