An Airdrie business owner sits patiently as the clock slowly ticks away. It’s mid-afternoon, and she tells me that I am only the third person to walk into her place of business that day.
There was a time when she had a staff of seven people, including two full-time and five part-time employees. She was able to go out and introduce herself to other community leaders and invite other folks to her shop. She was able to work on building her business.
Now, she finds herself held hostage within the walls of that same business as she is the only labour she can afford.
She has never gambled on sub-par quality. She worked hard to ensure that her clients received good value for every dollar they spent at her business. But now, except for the odd exception, people seem more comfortable shopping online. Despite not being able to see the products, touch the products or even know where the products are made, folks blindly trust huge shopping sites to save a buck and take advantage of the convenience factor.
It was already becoming a struggle, long before this COVID-19 madness began. Now, all her clients – who, perhaps, would have never even thought to shop online before the pandemic – have been conditioned to do just that. It’s not their fault; they were left with little choice when everything closed down.
Now that they’ve experienced it, this business owner wonders if she’ll ever see those customers again.
The door opens and two ladies walk in. A potential sale? No. They are there to ask for donations for an online charity auction. She obliges. After they leave, I ask her if they had ever been customers of hers. She shakes her head. I wonder if they’ve approached any of the online shopping giants for donations.
This is a proud woman, and she’s not alone. For all of the rhetoric about supporting local businesses, it seems to only apply to eateries that use foreign-owned delivery services. When it comes to other items like clothing, giftware, small appliances, electronics or anything that we used to buy in a retail environment, folks forget to think of them. As proud as they are to post the latest meal they’ve ordered locally, they fail to share that same support for local retailers.
As I leave, I can’t help but wonder what the business world is going to look like for this entrepreneur in five years. As billions of dollars leave our country every year to online shopping entities that sell goods made by other foreign entities, you have to wonder who will be left to support our economy. Will small businesses be reduced to service industries alone? What will this do to all of the charitable organizations that have come to depend on small businesses for support?
Somebody will have to pay the bills. Small business makes up more than 90 per cent of corporate taxes in this country. You can’t tax "rich" corporations if they don’t exist anymore. Online giants don’t rent small storefronts on Main Street. Unless you want to work for minimal pay in one of those online giants' warehouses and distribution centres, where will a young person find work?
Supporting local means more than eating local, folks. Let’s keep that in mind before we lose a cornerstone of this city, this province and indeed, this country. Let’s truly commit to supporting local small businesses of all kinds.
