Photo courtesy of Colton McKee

By Scott Roblin

Business Innovation

COVID-19 forcing small businesses to innovate to stay operating

Mar 31, 2020 | 5:24 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – From coast to coast, small businesses of all stripes are doing what they can to keep the lights on and their doors open.

COVID-19 has been disastrous for many of these locally owned stores, with temporary layoffs of staff being a common outcome in recent weeks.

Businesses like Station Coffee Co. in Medicine Hat have had to get creative with the way they offer goods and services, as fewer people have been willing to step inside to their shop.

Looking for a solution, part owner and manager Jeremy Knodel said his staff presented a unique proposal in the midst of the uncertainty.

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“In that meeting someone threw out the idea that we should just have a walk-up window,” said Knodel. “That kind of started the idea and then two Fridays ago the other owner and I met and just talked about if we should close the inside.”

Since March 21, Station Coffee has been running a ‘lemonade stand window’ which allows customers to walk up and order their favourite coffee or sweet treat.

According to Knodel, sales have been down roughly 30 percent over the last few weeks but has been able to avoid any temporary layoffs for his 14 staff members.

He added much of that has been a result of installing the walk-up window.

“It’s more important to us to make sure that our staff don’t have to try and fight to make ends meet in this time,” said Knodel. “So, we’ll do whatever we can safely to stay open.”

Mid-week has been quite slow for Station Coffee, however they’ve seen a bit more traffic come through their window on the weekends.

Like many of their customers, local business owners like Knodel are searching for a sense of normalcy with most aspects of life changed.

“It still allows people to have something normal in their life when everything else is upside down,” said Knodel. “For us as owners, that’s almost the most critical thing to provide some sort of normalcy for people who just want to get a coffee.”

The struggle extends to those local businesses who have had to close their doors because of COVID-19, such as 2020 Vision Care.

“It’s obviously a new normal for us,” said co-owner Jim Stewart. “We closed down a couple of weeks ago. We’re still trying to help people as much as possible, but obviously we don’t have anybody coming through the doors like we normally would.”

Layoffs have been unavoidable for 2020 Vision Care, as the vast majority of staff have been told to not come in to work until the local market begins to rebound.

“That’s one of the hardest things emotionally for me as an employer,” said Stewart. “To tell them that even though they’re coming back in a month or two or whatever it should be, it’s still hard to say goodbye to people you work with every day.”

Even with limited staff working, the eye care supplier has had to evolve their business in the midst of the global pandemic.

That includes allowing customers to book specialized appointments and providing free delivery for those needing new contact lenses.

“You really got to sit back, take a look and say, ‘What can I do to help people?’” said Stewart. “I think that’s what any business can do is try and help the people that deal with you all the time. One of our options was to do some deliveries. I don’t know if everybody is doing that, but we took that upon ourselves to at least try and get the product out to people and help them see as best they can in the interim.”

Many local auto dealerships are also offering free pickup and drop off for drivers needing servicing, while curbside pickup has become more common for national chains such as Staples, Michaels, and PetSmart.

At the local level, Knodel said innovation has always been a part of being a business owner and expects to see more unique ideas come to the forefront.

“Small business owners are innovative because that’s all you have to be,” he said. “You’re always adjusting and changing. This is a bigger change that we’re having to make, but this is what we do as a small business owner in adapting and changing to your customers’ needs.”