Getting back to browsing: Windsor retailers eager to bring customers back
Forced to close, or rely on curbside pickup for more than two months, non-essential retailers are busy Thursday, tidying up their shops.
The provincial government closed non-essential retail for in-store shopping on April 1, but they are allowed to reopen in Step One of the Roadmap to Reopening Ontario on Friday.
“We had to close completely,” says Liz Munsterhjelm, owner of Casa Chevala, a gift shop in Windsor.
“A store like ours, with so many original things from all over the world curbside would be difficult.”
The lockdown was especially frustrating for Munsterhjelm who is ready to retire this year, after 36 years in business in downtown Windsor.
“It’s like a double whammy. We had to wait, to retire because of the pandemic,” says Munsterhjelm. “Essentially we’re opening so we can close before the end of the year because I’d like to have some time to myself.”
“Good times are coming I think,” says John Ashley, owner of Galaxy Records, where it’s only upbeat positive music spinning on the record player today.
Ashley admits business was tough, when all he could do was curbside.
“Record people wanna look,” says Ashley. “They can’t come to the back door, oh I’ll have a Springsteen ‘Born to Run’ and then that’s it, they leave. They wanna come in for that and then they may see other things or we talk or I may recommend something.”
Clothing retailers, especially, say browsing is key.
Linda’s Fashions is closed Thursday, completely, to give staff time to reset the store from a fashion show space, back to a boutique.
“Everything has been on the floor,” says owner Linda Innes “We been like a little warehouse since we’ve been doing these Facebook videos, because we been pulling clothes, putting them on racks. Stuff is just all over the place.”
As of Friday June 11, non-essential retailers can reopen, with no restriction on what they can sell, but they must limit indoor capacity to 15 per cent occupancy.
The timing couldn’t be better for Bob Reaume, who’s sports store will open in time for their annual Father’s Day sidewalk sale.
“Which is easily the best four days for us in the month of June,” says Reaume.
Reaume is relieved to be reopening, but is anxious for local minor sports to resume because that is what will really make or break his summer.
“For the most part they (athletes) didn’t buy anything to start the year, even if they needed it because you weren’t playing,” he says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.