Shenanigans permanently closes
Andrea Paul used to tell her husband Darcy MacInnis that they just needed to make it to year five of their business called Shenanigans Pub and Eatery and things would get easier.
“We got to year five and so did a pandemic,” Paul said in announcing the couple’s decision to close the downtown New Glasgow pub which they’ve operated for the last seven years.
MacInnis said it was the pandemic and the restrictions associated with it that led to the decision to end the business.
“It’s exhausting,” he said when asked what the last two years have been like.
What he found hardest was the constant rule changes. Every time they thought they were regaining steam, something would knock them down again.
“It’s one step forward, two steps back,” he said. “We couldn’t regain any momentum.”
Even with the promise of easing restrictions in the future, he doesn’t think they’ll ever reopen. He points out that there has been reopening plans in the future that ended up being altered. He’s not willing to risk it anymore.
Another challenge associated with the pandemic has been inflation costs which have greatly increased their operational expenses.
Canola oil has more than doubled and items that restaurants use are rising at costs that extend beyond what the average consumer is seeing on the grocery store shelves.
“It’s not just the price of beef. It’s the price of propane. It’s the price of oil. It’s the heat, cable bills, rent is up.”
While there were government loans that helped shortterm, he said in the end that just results in more debt.
Thankfully there is high demand for restaurant employees right now, so MacInnis said he’s already had a few employers in town reach out to say that if any of his former employees need work that they’re hiring.
For himself MacInnis will be continuing a take out business in Pictou Landing.
What he will miss most, he says is the regulars he got to know as well as the opportunity to meet new people such as tourists who stopped in during the summer.
With Shenanigans now closed, MacInnis encourages others in the community to support other small businesses.