Chamber welcomes business reopenings
SOME BUSINESSES FORCED TO CLOSE PERMANENTLY
As Alberta eases some restrictions on businesses next week, many other local businesses are still facing hardship with not being able to open or fully operate.
The Alberta government announced a phased approach to relaunching the economy, and organizations such as Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce are pleased to see them taking the initiative in opening up parts of the economy for struggling businesses.
“The Lethbridge Chamber is pleased to hear that the Government of Alberta is continuing a thoughtful, phased-in approach that projects job creators as well as the consumers who rely on their services,” says Cyndi Vos, CEO, Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce.
“Friday’s announcement provides businesses with greater clarity to assist in planning for the weeks and months ahead.”
Alberta will be continuing to ease some public health restrictions starting on Monday, as restaurants will be able to offer in-person dining at limited capacity, and gyms will be able to reopen for personal training services only.
“We are pleased to see further restrictions being lifted, which means more Albertans can get back to work,” says Vos. “Some businesses may choose to remain closed due to the very stringent provincial capacity limits and tight profit margins, where operating at anything less than full capacity will mean loss of revenues. In this regard, we urge governments to continue providing support for struggling businesses whether they choose to reopen or not.”
While many businesses are happy to see some restrictions being lifted to possibly help bring in more traffic, other businesses were not able to make it through to the next phase and forced to close shop. The Music Court, created by Greg and Bonnie Court in 1986 announced their closure after 25 years of serving the community.
“The Music Court has always been locally owned and served Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and surrounding area,” The Music Court said in a statement.
“This has been a heart wrenching decision to let go and make such a change. We have had the pleasure of working with all the many talented musicians, band masters and families here in Lethbridge.
“Thank you all for the support.”
Many entertainment businesses throughout the area are also facing hardship, as businesses such as Sound Garden have also closed due to loss in business over the past year.
“With heavy hearts, we regret to announce that Sound Garden is permanently closed, an end of an era.
“We would like to thank everyone who has walked through our doors for their patronage and support over the last 20 years, we greatly appreciate it. Thanks for all the good times and the memories,” wrote Sound Garden owners in an online statement.
With the number of contacted cases and hospitalizations going down since the stricter restrictions went in place last year, Vos says with that continuation and collaborative effort of the community in lowering those numbers, the economy will be able to open up faster.
“With our case numbers declining, it’s important to remember that we cannot let our guard down,” says Vos.
“The only way for our economy to fully recover is to bring the number of hospitalizations down, so more businesses can relaunch and more Albertans can get back to work.”
Businesses unable to open with the ease of restrictions on Monday, or are still facing a loss of income from not being fully-operational are able to apply for small and medium sized funding grants at alberta.ca/covid19.
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