Toronto fears stagnation in Stage 1
Restaurants, pubs, salons across GTA, except in Peel and Toronto, reach Stage 2
It’s a tale of two hair salons.
In Maple, Salon Verve plans to reopen this weekend, now that York region will move into Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan on Friday. “We are pretty much completely booked for the next two months,” owner Lenny Ferri said. “We get emails and then phone calls, and then another email about the phone call.”
But south of Steeles Avenue — in Toronto, where the city remains in Stage 1 of reopening — Salon Solis co-owner Dino Tolentino is left wondering when he’ll be able to open his doors.
His staff is ready to get back to work and the customers keep asking when they can come in, he said.
“I can’t even put a waiting list together. What I’m supposed to do, call people every week we don’t open?” said Tolentino, whose salon is on Yonge Street just south of Bloor Street.
As of12:01a.m. Friday, all of Ontario will have moved into Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan except for Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex — the three regions that still produce the bulk of Ontario’s dwindling number of new COVID-19 cases.
When a region has reached Stage 2, restaurants are allowed to offer patio dining and businesses offering personal services can resume.
Not so in Stage 1, which allows only retail businesses with storefront entrances to open.
Among those entering Stage 2 on Friday are most of the regions comprising the Greater Toronto Area: Halton, York and Durham.
This raises the question of whether Torontonians who haven’t been able to get haircuts for three months will give up waiting on their local hairdressers and simply drive to another region.
Tolentino is concerned about the impact that will have on his business once he’s able to reopen. He has many clients who live on the outskirts of the city and have not been coming downtown lately as they’ve been working from home.
“People are going to start saying, ‘You know, I’ve been waiting for 3 I can’t wait any longer; I’m going to start searching for somewhere closer to home,’ ” he said.
“The ones that really want it done, they’re going to find an alternative. It doesn’t help our business when we return, that’s for sure.”
He wishes the province could at least provide a tentative date for Toronto to progress to Stage 2, to help businesses prepare.
At Salon Verve, Ferri plans a “soft” reopening this weekend, with full services being offered again on Monday.
He pointed out that one Toronto client mentioned said she would hold off coming in because she doesn’t live in York region. “People are being very respectful and understanding,” he said. “Even though we have regular clients coming from the city, they still don’t want to cross over until they’re in Phase 2.”
Ontario remains Canada’s “most closed economy,” according to a recent survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, with only 43 per cent of small businesses fully open.
Only about14 per cent of those businesses reported they are making their usual sales revenue.
And even though a region moving into Stage 2 means more businesses can open, it doesn’t mean that they actually will, said Julie Kwiecinski, director of provincial affairs for Ontario for the federation.
Businesses have to consider whether they can open safely with the right precautions to protect employees and staff, Kwiecinski said. The other consideration is revenue.
“The employer ultimately has to ask themselves: Can I open now? And is it worth my while in terms of the amount of revenue I’m expected to generate?” she said.
The fact that some regions remain in Stage 1 — with closed businesses unable to pay their rent — is a major reason the province needed a ban on commercial evictions, something the government passed this week, Kwiecinski said.
“At least the government is making sure that these salon owners, gym owners or the restaurants are not going to get tossed out on the street.”
Ferri knows a lot of people in the salon business in Toronto and said the waiting is horrible for the staff and their families.
“I get it, they’re following protocols and the numbers, but the whole situation has been unpredictable,” he said. “And you can’t do anything about that unfortunately, other than wait for it to be your turn.”
To those salons waiting their turn to reopen, Ferri says: “It’s going to be quick, and the calls and emails will not stop for days on end.”