Two small business owners in Weyburn shared some of the struggles and victories they have experienced, including the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of support available from the federal and provincial governments.
Vicki Leas of the Welsh Kitchen and Bakery, and Annette Petersen of Route 39 men鈥檚 wear store, both spoke to the Weyburn Rotary Club via their Zoom virtual meeting on Thursday.
Leas has lived in Weyburn for 24 years, and has owned and operated the Welsh Kitchen along with her husband Dan for the past 11 years.
She noted she had always dreamed of having a retail store and never intended to run a restaurant, but the opportunity 鈥渏ust happened鈥� to come up.
After 小蓝视频 at home while Dan worked, she took a job at a caf茅 until the owner had decided to sell the operation, located in the former Dreis Brothers building at Fourth Street and Souris Avenue.
鈥淥ne day, I went to see Mal (Barber) and said to him, 鈥業鈥檓 your new tenant鈥�. It鈥檚 funny how life throws you a curve ball. Eleven years on and here we are,鈥� said Leas, referring to the owner of the Dreis Bros. building.
Welsh Kitchen has been closed to sit-down customers since March 17, due to COVID-19, and her staff are on a temporary layoff.
With the recent announcement of Phase 3 to take effect on June 8, restaurants will be able to open but at a 50-per-cent capacity.
With the limited seating space they will have available, Leas is wondering how they will be able to handle the opening, as for example coffee drinkers wouldn鈥檛 be able to linger at their seats.
鈥淓ven if we do open our doors 鈥� I鈥檓 not sure what we鈥檙e going to do,鈥� said Leas, noting that even just for take-out orders, the protocols for cleanup would be prohibitive.
The federal government has offered to businesses to offset wages, but she noted that business owners have to pay those wages up front, and apply for the subsidy after.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know ahead of time whether you鈥檙e going to be getting that money,鈥� added Leas.
鈥淲e鈥檙e taking it one day at a time. We are baking for pickups on Fridays, so people don鈥檛 forget that we鈥檙e here,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to stay optimistic, but it鈥檚 hard.鈥�
Answering questions from Rotary members, Leas said she鈥檚 not sure how they鈥檙e going to handle things with the half-capacity rules, and suggested it might be a year before the restrictions are fully lifted by the government.
Meantime, she and her husband are in the restaurant on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays doing baking for pickup, such as bread and cinnamon buns.
Petersen told about starting up a men鈥檚 store for clothing at the encouragement of her husband, who at the time was a consultant in the oil patch.
The store marked its first year of operation on May 10, and Petersen said, 鈥淚t was a tough year for me. As I sold more, I bought more and expanded. My husband was a consultant in the oil field, and that hasn鈥檛 been good for three years. I thought this would be good because it wasn鈥檛 linked to the oil field. He was done in February, and we don鈥檛 know when he鈥檚 going back.鈥�
She noted that because she鈥檚 a new business, she couldn鈥檛 qualify to apply for the COVID loan from the federal government, 鈥渟o I鈥檓 getting through this without any help from the government, but I鈥檓 going on. I鈥檓 positive. I just opened on Tuesday, and it has been good so far.鈥�
While her store has been closed due to the COVID restrictions, she posted sales on her Facebook page, and now they are able to open again under Phase 2 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan.
On what she enjoys most in her position as a business owner, Petersen said, 鈥淚鈥檓 a people person, I enjoy communications with people.鈥�
With the COVID-19 pandemic, it鈥檚 made for a tough year, as in the past 12 months she鈥檚 had sales in four of those 12 months.
鈥淪ales dropped 80 per cent in the last two months,鈥� she said. 鈥淗opefully I can get through these next few months until my fall shipments come in.鈥�
She noted she had one company already canceled their fall shipments to her, but she added, 鈥淚鈥檓 going to keep my chin up.鈥�
