“We’re excited to be back,” says Brittany Buck, owner of BBBeauty Boutique in Bradford.
Parts of the province moved into the ‘red zone’ on Tuesday including Simcoe-Muskoka. Many local business owners were thrilled to be open again albeit with restrictions still in place.
Like most hair salons, Buck says they have been fielding calls daily from clients looking to book hair appointments.
“We’re already on day three of our waitlist," says Buck.
BBBeauty Boutique now has a 48-hour screening process implemented to ensure the safety of all clients and employees. They have also added a 24-hour cancellation policy to ensure no coveted appointment spots are wasted.
“We’ve been closed down for a couple of months and can’t afford people not showing up for their appointments,” notes Buck. “Our stylists block off three to four hours for appointments and there’s a huge waitlist right now.”
During the last lockdown, the salon used the downtime to make minor renovations to the interior of the boutique including pushing back partition walls to allow for more space to accommodate the 6-foot distancing rule, as well as renovations to the customer washroom. All clients are given a new medical-grade mask before entering the premises.
For restaurants, indoor dining is permitted with a maximum capacity of 10 customers. For some restaurants, those 10 customers mean the world to their business.
“Things are going really well,” shares Amber Morrison, Manager of Bradford's St. Louis Bar and Grill. “It’s just good to have people back inside again!”
Morrison notes there is still no seating allowed at the bar area as it is not possible to maintain a 6-foot distance, but they are making the best of the small seating section inside available on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Bradford's Don Cherry's Sports Grill posted on their Facebook page they were gearing up for reopening well in advance and are "excited to be open again!"
"It's certainly a step in the right direction for our small businesses," says Eric Fex, co-owner of Don Cherry's in Bradford. "With the current capacity at 10 people max, you could walk through our front doors and not see anyone sat in our 5000 square foot Bradford location."
"The hardest part about the red zone is when people walk in excited to be out and enjoy a meal/drink, only to be told we are at a max capacity with an empty restaurant to their visual. All we want to do is accommodate these guests who have been locked up for the past couple of months, but oftentimes they will need to wait a while with 95 per cent of our tables being empty. It's a sad reality but we are hopeful our local government will abide by the framework Ontario created with the colour code systems... only time will tell."
While some restaurants eagerly opened their doors to the public right away this week, other restaurants delayed their reopening to ensure they were ready for indoor dining again.
Juan Velazquez, owner of Hacienda Santa Teresa Mexican restaurant says he remained closed Monday and Tuesday for minor updates to their interior. “It’s always late notice when [the government] gives us the OK to open… we didn’t want to rush to get everything done.”
Velazquez says the restaurant had some people dining in on Wednesday but that take-out orders still make up the majority of their sales. Staff thank their regulars for continuing to support them and encourage customers to continue to order take-out if they don’t feel comfortable dining indoors yet.
“Ten people is challenging!” says Velazquez. “Especially on weekends, and we’re still not allowed entertainment which is unfortunate.”
Edson Nava, owner of La Mexicanada was also disappointed they were not able to include their popular weekend entertainment but is happy just to be open for business indoors again.
“We are happy to be open again even if it just means 10 people at a time,” says Nava. “We once again spent the time being closed to the public to do maintenance on the restaurant and deep cleaning. We also took the time to re-train with staff on Covid safety protocols and tools to use. We have been through this once so I think we are professionals now… we are happy to see all our La Mexicanada amigos return for dinner and drinks!”
Parents were just as overjoyed as business owners about moving into the red zone as sports and recreational centres re-opened for adults and children.
“We’re so grateful to be back open serving our community,"says Donna Katz, owner of Genesis Gymnastics.
Cathy McLean of Cathy's Zumba in Da House has decided to officially reopen her Bradford studio on March 1 with limited capacity, with Covid guidelines and measures in place.
"At this time, I am being overly cautious still," explains McLean, adding that dancers can resume registration through the Cathy's Zumba Facebook page or group.
Unfortunately, some businesses remain closed despite the province moving into the red zone.
“This reopening is a bunch of bull…” says Steve Dykie, owner of the Village Inn Bar & Nightclub. “You find out what colour is after green and then you’ll have our reopening answer.”
