Regina local businesses struggling to stay afloat after COVID-19

Some local businesses in Regina are struggling to turn a profit with rising costs of operating, CEBA loan payments and a lack of customers after Christmas.

“Sorry we’re closed.”

It’s a sign that more than a few local Regina businesses have been forced to hang outside the front window of their shop, as money is tight in 2024.

And while Annabel Townsend and her Tuppenny Coffee and Books aren’t there yet, it’s a sad possibility in the future. The café space with books for everyone has been forced to close during the week and is now only open Saturdays.

“It’s always a struggle but small businesses are not easy,” Townsend said sitting inside her other business, The Penny Bookstore. “The last few months have been really stressful because of my CEBA loan during the pandemic. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Then last fall the government said ‘pay back $40,000 right now.’ Strangely enough, I don’t have that money lying around.”

Townsend said it is an incredibly difficult time to be a small business owner, and arguably more difficult now than during the COVID-19 pandemic when they received relief loans from the government.

“We’re doing slightly worse than we were when they gave us money because the cost of everything has gone up” she said. “It’s getting more expensive to run the business but at the same time, everybody else is feeling the pinch as well. And given books and coffee are kind of luxury things, if you’re struggling, you’re going to stop spending on those sorts of things”

Other local businesses like Prahsik have taken to social media to announce their closure, in part because of the post pandemic economy.