Face shields bringing smiles back to Grimsby business community
Reopening a business after a two-month lockdown can be a challenge, especially for small, independent companies needing to invest in equipment to safely open their doors.
Sandy Jaskula, who co-owns Teddy’s Food Fun and Spirits in Grimsby, said prices were discouraging after looking into the cost of some of the equipment she needed to reopen her restaurant for takeout orders.
She said some suppliers are charging $20 to $25 for a face shield, and she might need dozens of them before the crisis is over.
“The big companies just want to gouge you.” Grimsby Downtown Improvement Area president
Mike Williscraft said the majority of businesses in his community are “single-person or mom-and-pop shops,” with three or less employees.
For many of them, he said, “every dime needs to be accounted for.”
There are, however, some suppliers that sincerely want to help.
Williscraft said he was recently contacted by Woodworkers Unite, a collaboration of several Ontario woodworking companies that began using their expertise and equipment to create plastic face shields, as the shortage of personal protective equipment became apparent.
The organization — it sells the face shields it manufactures on
line for $8.95 each — offered to donate them to a limited number of businesses in the area.
Williscraft, however, saw an opportunity to leverage the organization’s generosity to help even more businesses get back on their feet.
The Downtown Improvement Area teamed up Woodworkers Unite as well as the Town of Grimsby to make hundreds of face shields available to local businesses — for free.
“I can’t state enough how much the businesses appreciated it,” said Williscraft, who runs an independent newspaper serving west Niagara.
In addition to cutting its price for the face shields to $6 each, Woodworkers Unite donated one-third of the overall cost to allow the town and Downtown Improvement Area to distribute 800 face shields to businesses throughout Grimsby.
“This project was just a very simple straight forward step that couldn’t do anything but good for everyone,” Williscraft said.
Grimsby Mayor Jeff Jordan called it an effective solution for businesses facing challenges reopening.
The clear face shields do not obscure faces, allowing for a more personal interaction, he added.
“With a mask, unfortunately, you can’t tell people’s reactions and you never see them smile,” Jordan said.
“We brought the smile back into town, so to speak.”
Although the businesses received two face shields each, Williscraft said they can purchase more if they need them at the discounted rate.
Williscraft said he hopes to expand the initiative to businesses in neighbouring communities.
While helping protect the community from the potentially deadly COVID-19 virus, Williscraft said the masks also give customers the confidence they need to return to local businesses.
“People are going to need and want to feel comfortable to come back to any downtown,” he said. “The workers need to feel comfortable serving those people.”
Thanks to protection provided by the masks, Jaskula said the first weekend after reopening was “insane” for her 56year-old business.
“People were missing us,” she said, adding 7,000 chicken wings have been sold since last Thursday.
Now, despite only opening for takeout orders from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday to Saturday, she’s struggling to ensure she has enough staff to fill orders.
“We were exhausted,” she said. “We’re crazy busy.” Allan.Benner@niagaradailies.com 905-225-1629 | @abenner1