Hamilton business owners eager to reopen as city moves into red zone

After more than seven weeks under a stay-at-home order, Hamilton business owners are gearing up to welcome back customers on Tuesday as the city moves into the red-control zone of the province's COVID-19 framework.

The move means a return to indoor dining, with up to 10 customers allowed inside a restaurant. Grocery stores and pharmacies will be capped at 75 per cent capacity, with a 50 per cent cap for other retailers, like hardware and big-box stores.

For fitness studio owners, the New Year's resolutioner" rush that skipped January due to the shutdown could materialize as of next week, but with decreased capacities. The province has set a maximum of 10 people inside, including areas with weights and machines and fitness sessions, and 25 people in outdoor classes.

I'm confident, based on the objective data that we - at least in our studio ... and many of the fitness programs in the city - managed to keep people safe and not have transmissions. I feel very good about our ability to do that going forward," said Justin Baker, owner of F45 Hamilton Downtown fitness studio.

Between July and December, Baker said his location reached more than 11,000 visits and did not experience any transmissions of COVID-19. The studio is down to half its pre-pandemic membership, with fewer than 100 clients training virtually in the circuit-style workout sessions through on-demand or live on Zoom.

Next week, Baker said the studio will return to its between-class sanitizing protocol and increase spacing between participants.

In preparation for the announcement, which came Friday afternoon, Hamilton's Playhouse Cinema sent patrons an email about how the province's framework levels could affect screenings. The Playhouse received approval from public health officials to be listed as an event venue, which means it can host private events for up to 10 people under the red zone.

The small private event service was a success for the theatre in December, said owner and manager Jacob Tutt.

But multiple lockdowns have put an incredible strain on our business," Tutt said. I would like to see this pandemic get under control, our case numbers get under control, and hopefully, this is the last time we leave a lockdown."

But with the return to school, vaccine supply shortage and variant prevalence in the equation, some public health experts are not so sure the third time's the charm with this gradual reopening plan.

Hamilton's medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, said this week significant controls" ought to remain in place.

It's unclear how the return to the COVID-19 response framework will affect the province's newest business grants and other supports. In late December, the province announced a new small business support grant of $10,000 to $20,000 for companies with fewer than 100 employees that could show they had to close or significantly restrict services" due to the restrictions.

Warren O'Sullivan, general manager of One Duke Restaurant, said he was able to retain staff through a mix of wage supports and reduced hours.

The restaurant, which relies on its reservation tool to help with contact tracing and screening, has been doing meal delivery and partnering with other local businesses to offer customers bonuses, including access to a virtual comedy screening, with meals.

We're not a large business, so we want to take care of everyone," O'Sullivan said on Friday. With the snow today, obviously there's no patio season coming any time soon ... but you can have a viable business with the red zone implemented."

Vjosa Isai is a Hamilton-based business reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: visai@thespec.com.