By Josh Hall and Sheldon Spackman

Growing concern

Red Deer business owners frustrated by ongoing shutdowns

Jan 8, 2021 | 2:58 PM

Local restaurant, gym, and wellness centre operators are expressing further frustration following Thursday’s announcement of at least two more weeks of Alberta’s current public health restrictions remaining in place.

Al Parada, owner/manager at Can-Pro Athletic Training Centre in Red Deer says it’s extremely frustrating to be shut down for what has now become about a third of the year despite the physical and mental well-being that fitness facilities such as his can provide.

“Our business is more private so we can control what’s going on, how many people are in here,” he explains. “Even when we’re busy, we always have maybe less than 14-15 people, including instructors in here at any given time. So I think opposed to a big box gym, there’s a huge difference between us and them and I think there should be some designation between the two.”

Despite the circumstances, Parada acknowledges strong support from his clients, staff, and the community during the pandemic.

“That’s who I really feel for – is the clients who can’t come in anymore and my staff who I had to lay-off because of this,” notes Parada. “But they’re going to come back. I’m positive. They’ve supported us through this whole thing and we’re very happy and fortunate that we have the clientele that we have.”

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Bonnee Gregg and Krista Vandenbrink, co-owners of the Breathing Room Yoga Studio and Café, say they understand that what it comes down to is making sure everyone stays safe.

“We did make the switch to virtual, online classes when this first lockdown happened and the very first lockdown happened in March,” explains Vandenbrink. “I like to think that we’re getting better at delivering and that our yoga community is more accepting of the fact that we’re all just doing the best we can. But I do believe that the government could offer something a little bit more to those of us who had to close our doors earlier.”

Breathing Room’s yoga classes have taken on a different look in recent months. (Breathing Room)

“It’s the community that’s helping us persevere and get through it,” adds Gregg. “People are disappointed, there’s no doubt about it and they want things to go back to normal, they want to be in the yoga studio physically with their people but they’re also coming from a place of empathy, understanding and compassion and that’s all we could ever hope for from our community.”

Rieley Kay, co-owner of Lacombe-based Cilantro and Chive, admits the two-week extension of the current health protocols will have a major impact.

“We’re down drastically from where we would have been this time last year,” he laments. “We’re down with our staffing levels, down with our product, down with our engagement, down with a lot of things that we could have been and should have been doing at this time. But ultimately, our guest safety, our staff safety and our community safety is paramount to us.”

Though it might be easier to quit or point fingers at other organizations or businesses allowed to stay open at this time, Kay says his team of staff helps keep him motivated to carry on.

“The smiles that they have on their face coming in, their eagerness and willingness to just do anything they can to support us and our business is huge. Our guests still coming through the door, obviously for pick-up orders, their excitement, their smiles, even through their masks, it really keeps us going.”

Brennen Wowk, owner of Bo’s Bar and Stage in Red Deer, says the frustration from his industry’s standpoint is with the need for better communication between government and business.

“Restaurants and bars cannot open with a few days’ notice,” he explains. “Some operators brought in additional inventory and staff with the belief that we would be open early next week. Once again this costs operators in our industry money.”

“The uncertainty and constant back and forth has been extremely hard both financially and emotionally for us all in the hospitality industry,” adds Wowk, who suggests the restaurant and hospitality industry needs insight and data-driven information from government to enable them to successfully bring their industry back to life.

“With strict protocols in place, hospitality venues such as restaurants, pubs, cafes, etcetera, are a safer option than unregulated gatherings in private residences. We haven’t seen any data supporting that the hospitality and fitness industries attribute to large amounts of case spreads.”

Wowk says a clear path forward with a detailed, transparent, data-driven plan from the government is essential to the survival of the hospitality industry.

“A potential third shutdown will completely implode our industry,” he warns. “This simply cannot happen from an economic or mental wellness standpoint. We stand with front line workers and want our health care system to not be pushed to its capacity.”