'Out of options': Sask. restaurants closing, scrambling due to effects of COVID-19
CBC
In November 2009, Chris Plumb sat on the tile floor of an empty building with a pencil, sketching his dreams for what would become The Mercury Cafe & Grill on a napkin. His promise to keep it open, whatever the cost, has stretched his finances thin during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He's come to a point that he might have to break his promise. He suggested The Mercury could close by the end of February.
"It could potentially mean bankruptcy for me," he said.
Plumb, the owner of the retro diner in Regina's Cathedral area, is one of many restaurants in Saskatchewan and across Canada who have faced the prospect of closing their doors because of pandemic impacts.
Güd Eats, which had stores in both Saskatoon and Regina, is closing its Saskatoon location almost a year after shuttering its Regina location. They chose not to comment at this time.
"I've exhausted pretty much every other means: grants, loans from the bank, the federal loans," Plumb said.
He made a call to customers as a last resort, hoping the support of patrons can help with another push through the pandemic.
While Saskatchewan lacks restrictions imposed in other provinces, he said vaccine passports have reduced the number of customers coming through the door and that others are nervous to go to restaurants.
Plumb said he's had to increase his prices, something he's been trying to avoid. But, he says about $20,000 could bail him out if this was the last wave of the pandemic.
"Twenty-grand and an absolute end is what needs to happen," Plumb said.
When the province imposed a lockdown early in the pandemic, government funding kept him afloat. For him, it's now too late for that.
Ashlea Street, owner and operator of Streets Steakhouse and Bar in Moose Jaw, said their business is struggling to make ends meet with constantly rising supply costs and a reduction in customers.
"We feel like we're out of options and we have no voice," Street said. "No one knows what to do."
She said the business is losing about $40,000 a month and, at that rate, doesn't expect to survive beyond a few months.
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