When it comes down to it, the Town of Innisfil doesn’t have a lot of retail. The announced reopening of some businesses on May 19 had a limited impact.
Many of the municipality’s businesses – hair salons, nail spas, and retail stores located in malls, like Cookstown’s Tanger Outlet Mall – will remain closed until a later stage of the province’s economic recovery. Restaurants remain open for take-out and delivery only.
Many other Innisfil businesses were deemed “essential,” and have remained open throughout the COVID-19 shutdown, although most introduced safety precautions, from plexiglass screens for cashiers and measures to maintain physical distancing between shoppers, to restricting business to online orders and curbside pick-up.
Essential businesses in Innisfil included convenience stores, pharmacies, grocery stores, and retail outlets like Home Hardware and the Canadian Tire Store.
The Alcona Beach Health Shoppe, located in the Crossroads Plaza in Alcona, was also identified as 'essential' – since it provides alternative and natural health and food options.
“People want a different choice, a natural choice,” said Kimberly Hunter-Gafur, explaining why the doors stayed open.
The health food store did make changes, limiting the number of shoppers allowed inside at one time, and asking its clientele to practice social distancing.
“We cut back on our hours,” Hunter-Gafur said, only open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – only reopening on Sundays two weeks ago.
Even with the restrictions, she said, “It’s been steady.”
Over in Stroud, Lavender Floral did reopen its doors for the first time on Tuesday. Up until then, all orders were taken online or over the phone, and the florist offered only delivery or curbside pickup.
Curbside pick-up continues, but as of May 19, Lavender Floral is also open for business, with modifications: a limit on the number of shoppers allowed inside at one time, a hand-sanitizing station located by the door, the designation of some parts of the small shop as “off limits,” to protect the staff.
Since reopening, “It’s been quiet,” said owner Sherie Britnell. “We’ve only had about five or six people come in – although everyone who came in bought something, which is nice.”
Britnell has mixed feelings about the reopening. She was already quite busy, even during the COVID-19 shutdowns.
“It’s honestly been so good for us. People have been so supportive,” she said, using flowers as a way to stay connected.
“If you can’t get out, people want to send flowers,” Britnell said.
In fact, things were so busy on the Mother’s Day weekend, that she and her staff could hardly keep up. “We couldn’t take all the orders. We ran out of flowers, we ran out of staff – there weren’t enough hours in the day,” she said. “We’ve been thankful.”
As for opening the doors? “I’m a little unsure about it,” Britnell said. “Is it too soon? We’re being super cautious.”
Global Pet Foods on Innisfil Beach Road was technically allowed to reopen to customers – but as of May 20, was still limited to online orders and curbside pick-up only.
“We’re still waiting for our PPE (Personal Protective Equipment),” explained staffer Shania Jamieson, as she dealt with customer inquiries outside the store.
Like many other businesses that switched to online operations during the COVID-19 crisis, “We’ve been really busy,” Jamieson said. She expects that to continue, when the doors finally do reopen.
