ATHABASCA - There were times during this pandemic when the streets were bare; there wasn’t a vehicle or person anywhere to be seen in Athabasca’s commercial core or the surrounding area.
But still, some thrived. Not because of anything more than chance and circumstance, but with the mandated closure of what the Alberta government deemed to be “non-essential” businesses and the travel restrictions recommended for the general public, consumers were exploring local options to meet their needs.
“The reason why we’re busy is people are shopping local, and that’s it,” said Marie Goller, who owns Cheap Seats Sporting Goods, which has been operating for 26 years.
While baseball and soccer and many of the organized group sports were put on hold this summer, equipment for individual activities like bicycling, fishing and shooting proved to be more popular than ever.
“Was it unexpected for us to be busy? Absolutely. We were fortunate to stay open because we did bike repair and that was under essential, so we did not shut down at all, we just reduced our hours, and we were busy because other places were closed,” Goller said.
She was initially wary to speak on the subject, because of the many entrepreneurs in the region who didn’t fare as well during the economic shutdown, but now that businesses are opening up again, the hope is that residents will continue to shop locally for all of their needs, especially considering the high number of active coronavirus cases currently reported in Edmonton.
Heading east up the hill, McEwan's Fuels and Fertilizers was another of the lucky ones to be considered essential. Farmers need fuel, fertilizer, chemicals and seed every spring, so as soon as the snow melted, it was just another day at the office for territory manager Keith Kirkpatrick and staff.
“The only way it really affected us is with seasonal employees. We had to watch where they were going and make sure everyone was social distancing. We are an essential business so it didn’t affect us in that way and we didn’t have to close anything down,” said Kirkpatrick.
While many have been forced to downsize or put off future expansion plans, McEwan's is moving forward with a new fertilizer plant to serve the needs of producers far into the future.
“It’s an old plant, and McEwan's has been growing for the last number of years, so we are investing in a new plant here in town,” said Kirkpatrick. “We’re going to at least double our output.”
Work got underway earlier this month with an overhaul of the entire operation. New bins and a new blender have been installed already, which will cut down the amount of blending time and the amount of time customers have to wait. Storage volume will also be increased by about 40 per cent, he said.
There was initially talk of delaying the new plant, but seeing as it was budgeted for, the project went ahead.
“Being as it was already budgeted for, we decided to go ahead and do it because agriculture is not going away, so to better service our customers, it was time to do it,” said Kirkpatrick.
Farmers weren’t the only ones busy planting either.
With so many asked to stay close to home, a lot of people took it upon themselves to plant their own seeds — both flowers and food. In fact, in 36 seasons in the greenhouse business Lois Robocon at Birch Meadow Greenhouses, just west of Athabasca, had one of the best years of her career.
When the shutdown was first announced, there was a bit of a panic, said Robocon. Much of her stock had already been ordered, and was on its way. At the same time staff were told they may not have a job. The process and timeline she had used in the previous 35 years would have to be changed, but people were eager to plant.
“Even before they deemed us essential, the phone really started ringing off the hook, and the Facebook page started getting a lot of hits, the emails started flooding in,” said Robocon. “You could tell it was more, and they weren’t all my normal customers. There were lots of new people who had never gardened before and were looking for lots and lots of advice.”
The greenhouse actually opened April 30 — 10 days later than usual. Less than a month later, right after the May long weekend, it was closed. There was just nothing left, as she was unable to seed the usual second crop. The greenhouse usually finishes its season in mid-June.
“It was just like Mother's Day weekend. It was unbelievable,” said Robocon.
Extra staff were hired just to fulfill the sanitization needs of the greenhouse and even more to fulfill curb side orders.
Robocon chalks it up to people being forced to stay at home and having to cancel any travel plans they may have had. If you’re going to be stuck at home, you need to keep yourself occupied and a lot of people took up gardening to do just that.
And what is a beautiful garden without a beautiful yard?
Fred Minville, the owner of Pretty Rock Supply, was another local business owner whose work was lucky enough to be considered essential. Like Robocon’s greenhouse, Minville’s landscaping supply business saw new customers from around the region stop by for gravel, top soil and even sod to help beautify the properties they would be confined to for the foreseeable future.
Minville is also the owner of Done Right Contracting, which provides landscaping, snow removal and handy man services. While customers weren’t calling as much for him to perform the actual work, they were calling to gather the supplies to do the work themselves.
“Pretty Rock has definitely been way busier than my handy man business because people have been staying at home, so they haven’t necessarily been calling more to do the jobs, but everybody needs a little gravel, or a little bit of rock,” said Minville.
“The first month of summer, people just went crazy. The business was five to seven times what it was last year.”
He was used to making one or two gravel sales in a week, but during this summer’s peak he was closing up to five sales in a day.
“You can buy truckloads, but nobody will sell you just a Bobcat bucket and even load it into your truck,” Minville said.
Between the success of his business and the opportunity to raise his family in a town like Athabasca, Minville hasn’t regretted his decision to relocate here once.
“I moved down from Fort Mac to Athabasca to raise my family and I think it’s such an amazing little town and it’s a gem.”
Chris Zwick,TownandCountryToday.com
