N.S. businesses welcome reopening plans, eagerly await return of tourists

Some small business owners are relievedNova Scotia's reopening planwill allow them toserve a small number of customers in person again, but say easing travel restrictions soon is the key to salvagingthesummer season.

Beginning Wednesday at 8 a.m. AT, restaurants and bars can open their outdoor patiosprovided there is two metresof distancing between groups and a maximum of 10 people per table.

Non-essential retail stores can also operate at 25 per cent capacity as long as they ensurephysical distancing, andpersonal services, like hair salons and spas, can operate by appointment only.

But for now, travel in and out of the Halifax Regional Municipality, as well as the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, is still not allowed, except for essential reasons. Travel into Nova Scotiaalso remains closed to visitors from outsidethe province.

"We need day trippers, like we need regional tourism," Miriah Kearney, who owns My Home Apparel in Truro,told CBC Radio's Mainstreeton Friday afternoon.

Kearney said while her store gets business from many loyal customers in Colchester County,it's notenough tosustain them.

"I need people to make day trips from Halifax We need people to be able to move around freely and confidently," she said.

Shutting small shops wasunfair, says owner

Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief medical officer of health, said on Friday that the reopening approach is slow and cautious, and the last thing they want to do is force businesses back into lockdown.

Each phase has a general time frame of two to four weeks, depending on COVID-19 activity in the province, testing capacity, and hospitalization and vaccination rates.

Andrew Zebian, who owns Phinneys clothing store in Kentville, said hewishes small businesses didn't have to wait this long to gradually reopen, especially sincebig box stores have hadin-person shopping all along.

"We all wanted these numbers down, we all wanted our kids back in school, there's no question about that, but it wasn't fair that you could go to a large store and buy the same item that many of us were selling," he said.

Joshua Counsil, a co-owner of Good Robot Brewing in Halifax, doesn't think it will be hard to convince customers to return.

"I think people are just ready to explode and go back out and experience that camaraderie that hospitality businesses, food and beverage, create for people," he said.

Counsil said business owners are problem solvers by nature, and believes many will be ready to open by June 2.

Kearney was part of the provincial government's consultation with businesses ahead of the reopening plan and said she's happyleaders are listening.

But she also said the province needs totrust small business owners, who by now know how to operate safely during the pandemic.

"I'll take [June] 2. We have to trust the government is doing what they feel is best, but I would be there tomorrow at 7 a.m. with my doors Lysoled and ready to go," she said.

She hopes small business ownersare involved with more reopening discussions going forward.

"People thathave nothing on the table make all the decisions for people that have everything to lose, and we need to be more involved," she said. "We can't sustain anything shut down."