‘We will come back stronger’
Hospitality businesses welcome level 2
Hard-hit hospitality businesses in Northland’s main tourist town are opening their doors today as they try to make up for lost income after more than three weeks in lockdown.
Paihia restaurants, bars and cafe owners spoken to by the Advocate yesterday were looking forward to welcoming customers inside again — despite stricter level 2 rules this time around — but said business wouldn’t return to normal levels until Auckland’s lockdown ended.
The new level 2 rules include expanded mask-wearing requirements, compulsory QR code scanning, and crowd limits of 50 indoors and 100 outdoors. Other rules, such as 2m social distancing and table service only, remain unchanged.
Anthony “Vinnie” Pivac, the owner of Zane Grey’s Restaurant and Bar on the Paihia waterfront, planned to reopen at lunch today.
Levels 3 and 4 had been a “huge” financial hit even with the Government’s wage subsidy.
“Lockdown is tough for the business. We’ve got fixed costs rolling in hard and fast, and we have to meet the needs of staff as well.”
Zane Grey’s was lucky to have a large premises so meeting physical spacing rules would not be problem.
Normally the business could seat 100 patrons inside and 180 outside on The Dock. That would be reduced to 50 inside and 100 outside, with no mixing permitted.
The rules about face coverings for kitchen workers, who did not interact directly with customers, were unclear but the staff had decided everyone would wear masks.
“At the moment out biggest concern is that Auckland is still blocked off. A lot of our customers are from Auckland or further south, and a restaurant of this size needs a large turnover to meet the fixed costs. It’s a large beast.”
Pivac was optimistic about today’s reopening but said the business couldn’t survive Covid restrictions forever.
“We’re a tourist town. We rely on tourists and it has to be a mix of international and domestic.”
It was “a bit of a head-scratcher” why Immigration New Zealand continued to be strict on visas during lockdown. Due to Paihia’s labour shortage the restaurant relied on a certain number of overseas workers, he said.
Up a nearby alleyway and on an entirely different scale Tom Richardson runs the Third Wheel Coffee Company.
He starting selling takeaway coffees from a window on Friday, the first day of level 3, and was excited to reopen properly today.
“It was great to be open at level 3 but we know from last time you only really sense you’re open at level 2. Level 3 is a kind of awkward in between. I’m looking forward to getting the business going again. We’ve got a lot to make up for.”
Lockdown had been challenging for a small business like his, he said.
Fortunately the Government’s wage subsidy covered most staff costs while the Resurgence Fund covered some fixed costs. His landlord had also reduced the rent during lockdown.
“That’s been massive for us,” Richardson said.
He was also lucky that business had been strong in the year between lockdowns, giving him reserves to get through the Delta outbreak.
The 50-person customer limit would not be an issue for him but ensuring 2m spacing would be challenging in a cafe of just 50sq m.
The difference between this year’s lockdown and 2020 was the much wider use of masks, he said.
That made communication difficult, especially when customers were ordering through a window.
“But people have been abiding by the rules, a lot of them have been wearing masks and giving each other space. Maybe we’re a bit more on the same page this time.”
Richardson anticipated the next few weeks would still be tough. While locals provided almost all his weekday business he relied on Aucklanders for his weekend takings.
“But I think we’ll succeed because people want us to succeed, they want us to be here.
“I’m confident we’ll go back to being a busy little coffee shop.” Meanwhile, Charlotte’s Kitchen head chef Guido Giffi said the Paihia wharf
restaurant aimed to reopen on Monday.
Staff had made good use of the lockdown by running daily training sessions on Zoom during level 4, then switching to practical training, menu development and team building in level 3.
“So we will come back stronger, and I think our new menu will be the best one ever because we had time to think about it. Usually as a chef you don’t have time to sit down and think, it’s a pretty hard core job.”
The restaurant normally seated 100 so chairs were being removed and tables spaced out to allow a maximum of 50.
Staff were willing to wear masks for the good of the community and to set an example.
Charlotte’s Kitchen was lucky to be part of a bigger business — it is owned by Russell’s Duke of Marlborough — so staff were on full pay during the lockdown.
It was harder for small businesses which had to open for takeaways at level 3 just to get some cash flow.
“The whole industry has been a bit damaged [by lockdowns] but we will be ready to go on Monday with a brand new menu and new innovations. We’re really happy we took our time to think about things,” Giffi said.
Yesterday staff at Bad Habits Bar and Restaurant in Paihia Lanes were reducing the number of chairs from 85 to 50.
Owner Adi Gupta said staff were “100 per cent” looking forward to today’s reopening.
The business was at peak trade when the lockdown hit and takeaways at level 3 only helped a little.
“But something is better than nothing. The costs keep coming, even when you’re not trading, but you never give up.”
The head of Northland’s Chamber of Commerce, Steve Smith, said businesses should ready themselves for an increase in consumer spending from today.
Northland saw an immediate surge in economic activity after last year’s lockdown with people keen to travel, work and spend locally.
“We hope to see this boost again. It provided a much-needed injection of cash into the local economy and a lifeline to harder hit businesses who could not operate above level 2.”