Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, businesses across Delta have had to adapt in order to serve their customers.
Some remained open, offering pick-up or delivery, others switched to online models while still others were forced to shutter.
Now that the provincial government is set to ease some restrictions after the long weekend, many are looking at ways they can re-open or pivot to other ways of doing business.
Noting he remained open, but had to make a few adjustments in order to make customers feel more comfortable in the store, Kevin Ridley, owner of the RunInn in Tsawwassen, said things were slow for a while but have picked up as more people look to get involved in outdoor activities.
Ridley said resuming running clinics will be tricky, although having people keep track of their times and staying in touch virtually may help them still feel connected to a group.
Yvonne Clark, owner of Delta Carpets, said when the pandemic started her 48th Avenue storefront was open by appointment only, with very restricted access.
“We are, of course, a small business and want to be very careful and cautious, so we decided that we would open with shortened hours and keep our showroom accessible,” said Clark. “It is definitely not business as usual, but we are still able to serve the community. I have been here for 38 years. Economically, we have faced pretty much everything, weathered the storms, but this is a whole new ball game.”
Noting he had to temporarily lay off some staff, but has brought back one of his technicians and hopes to soon be fully staffed, John McCafferty, owner of John’s Thistle Auto on Ladner’s Elliott Street, said business was clearly down in the early days of the pandemic as fewer people drove. However, he remained open and now business is picking up.
McCafferty said employees will have to continue to follow physical distancing measures but it’s not always easy since they often have to help each other out on vehicles.
“We’re lucky we have a good size shop and there’s two guys with lots of space between them. If they do anything together, they’ve got masks on. The biggest thing we had in the beginning was customers wanting to wait for their vehicles or wanting a ride home. It was tricky but what we did was have them leave their car home and two of us would come to their place and pick it up,” added McCafferty.
It remains to be seen how the Delta Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Store in Ladner Village reopens as it must manage a large number of customers, donations and volunteers.
Auxiliary past-president Yvonne Chard said reopening the Delta Street store could still be a long a way off, but there is a committee looking at it, while the coordinator for the society’s gift shop at Delta Hospital is also considering some plans.
Chard added one of the challenges for the thrift store is how to monitor donations that seem to double after any type of holiday.
Fatma Telli, owner of Lara Cuisine in Ladner Village, said they have continued to remain open by organizing a safe pick-up service for customers and by using Skip the Dishes.
“We modified our hours and allowed only one person at a time to enter. I have a shield in front of the cashier. All bags are packed and placed on a table for pick-up. We always used gloves before the pandemic and had a sanitizer dispenser for hands,” she said. “The sad part was to lay off my wonderful employees. In March and April we literally worked to pay the rent and unfortunately didn’t get any response from the landlord for assistance.
“Moving forward we will minimize the tables in the restaurant and will open our outside tables. We will definitely put into place rules for tables and may change the concept and not have table service. We are still working on this and will absolutely have high standards.”
Jill McKnight of South Coast Casuals said the 48th Avenue clothing store closed for a period, but is now doing appointments and a little bit with walk-in customers.
She said all dressing rooms are being disinfected between customers and a dressing room rotation is in place so once it’s cleaned, it’s not used for a period of time. McKnight said other measures include any clothes that are tried on being taken off the floor, a Plexiglas shield being erected to protect staff members, marking out lines at the cash desk, disinfecting hangers and asking customers to use hand sanitizer when they walk in the door.
“We have also moved to some online shopping, but with a store the size of ours, that does not happen overnight. We will still be doing some of that, but that doesn’t replace the actual shopping experience for our customers.”
She said it has been challenging, but the support from customers has been very encouraging.
“Some have sent us a message saying, ‘I can’t come see you right now because of my health, but I will come see you when I can.’ That type of message goes a long way.”
