Peterborough small retailers remain hopeful for busy holiday season

Some small business owners in Peterborough say 2023 has been a challenging year but they remain hopeful for success leading into the holiday season.

Gail Martin, co-owner of John Roberts Clothiers on George Street North in the city’s downtown, says business has been “pretty steady” with Christmas and other holidays just over a month away.

“These last few months it has been a little quieter,” Martin said. “People are a little more hesitant to spend on items that may or may not be a necessity.”

It’s a sentiment shared by Sparq Retail, a legally licensed group of cannabis dispensaries with three sites in Peterborough and one each in the villages of Millbrook and Norwood.

“With the way inflation is, everything’s more expensive for people so we’re definitely seeing some buying habit changes,” general manager/operator Rob Brunsch said.

But for Couture Candy, business has been growing. The full-service candy store just opened its third location at the Quinte Mall in Belleville after opening stores on George Street North and at the Lansdowne Place mall in Peterborough.

“It has been fantastic. We’ve opened a third store,” owner Lisa Couture said. “We’re still at the Lansdowne Place location, but we have started to make some changes.”

But these owners say customer spending is not the only thing impacting their bottom dollar. Some are feeling the effects of crime.

Earlier this month, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a study stating nearly 50 per cent of Canadian small businesses surveyed had been either directly or indirectly impacted by crime.

1:55 Crime a growing concern for Canadian small businesses: report

“We’ve had break-ins overnight at our locations,” Brunsch said. “We’ve had petty theft during the day. We’ve had intoxicated patrons.”

Martin and Couture say they’ve noticed a decline in “window shoppers” in the downtown core.

“We’re hearing from some customers, ‘I don’t come downtown anymore,'” Martin said.

Couture added: “Everybody knows in the city that there are some economical, addiction — you know — legal issues that are happening downtown.”

“It makes it hard for a small business, so we’ve definitely adjusted,” she said.

Those adjustments include more online business. Couture says they’ve focused on selling to their more than 65,000 followers on the store’s social media channels.

“We’ve had a huge uptick in our orders, which has really compensated for the fact that not as many people are coming through our doors,” Couture said.

The key selling point, the owners say, is their focus on local when competing against the largest corporate entities.

“A lot of people just find it an easier, a more pleasant shopping experience to come to a small, local retailer,” Martin said.

Brunsch says “local matters” to his business model.

“All of our employees are from town,” he said. “The money we generate stays locally, we spend money with local contractors.”

Couture notes that some business owners have not been as fortunate and either are struggling or have been forced to close. She’s encouraging residents to shop local this holiday season.

“We’ve had a lot of businesses and restaurants close in the last month,” she said. “For us it’s really heartbreaking for those families. So we really just want to encourage people, let’s get back to supporting small and make a change in our community.”

— with files from Sam Houpt/Global News

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