‘It’s far from ideal’: Hamilton businesses pivot their services amid COVID surge

Some Hamilton businesses say they've had to pivot their operations to keep staff safe and ease financial strain amid the latest surge in COVID cases.

At the Cannon, the smells of breakfast waffles and sights of patrons sipping coffees at their tables are on a temporary hiatus, said owner Chris Poirier in an interview.

Poirier said the Ottawa Street North cafe has stopped indoor dining due to the size of their space and their existing capacity limits.

Pre-pandemic, the cafe could fit just 10 people and current restrictions have halved that number - leaving few options to accommodate both seating and their steady takeout business.

The problem is that we can't do enough volume with either setup," said Poirier. So, we had to go straight back to no sit-in."

The surge in cases has also prompted the cafe to dial back" its operations.

As of Tuesday, Poirier said their hours will be limited to ensure staff can have a lot less contact with people" and their kitchen will be closed - with their offerings slimming down to just coffee and pastries to help cover their overhead.

Obviously, we want to keep people safe, but at the same time we have to keep the business running," said Poirier. It's really hard to manage the two of those together ... it's far from ideal."

But, the Cannon isn't alone.

Instead, they're joining a growing list of local businesses and restaurants that have closed their doors for indoor dining and in-person shopping.

On Monday evening, Bean Bar in Westdale took to Instagram to announce that they too would be shifting to strictly takeout service with a limited menu starting Tuesday.

We feel this is the best decision for the safety of our patrons and our entire team, until case numbers start to decline steadily in Ontario," read the post. With luck, we hope to return to full service in (two to three) weeks time."

Other businesses that have either temporarily closed or pivoted their operations include MaiPai Tiki Bar, Martello, Freelton Antique Mall, PinToh Thai Cuisine, Lotus Thai and Vietnamese Cuisine and Pure Home Couture.

Many of the businesses cited growing health and safety concerns for staff and financial strain as reasons for the move. They join Fairweather Brewery and MERIT Brewing, which closed their taprooms earlier this month.

Beauty spas and fitness studios across the city have also adjusted their operations.

At FLO Nails Aesthetics Laser on Locke Street South, all services requiring clients to remove their masks have been temporarily paused, said owner Rajvir Samra-Gosain. That includes services like facials and upper-lip waxing.

We obviously keep our masks on during those services, but if the clients don't, it's just that much more exposure," said Samra-Gosain. If one of us gets sick, then we'd potentially have to shut down."

Samra-Gosain said the change allows the business to continue operating and offering its remaining services as safely as possible.

For us, it's better to at least be in business doing half of our services as opposed to not doing any services at all," Samra-Gosain added.

GoodBodyFeel has stopped all in-person classes and starting Jan. 3, the studio will operate on a reduced virtual schedule of just seven classes a week, according to their Instagram.

Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com