Lawn care, BBQ companies among those seeing big business as Winnipeggers stay home

With so many Winnipeggers spending more time at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some industries are finding that despite the health crisis, there’s no slow-down in their work.

The owner of a local lawn care business told 680 CJOB his phone has been ringing off the hook with customers — both residential and commercial.

Dana Kapusta, owner of Nutri-Lawn, said he’s also seeing plenty of homeowners using the time off and working on indoor and outdoor projects.

“My crew have been telling me, they’re showing up to homes and they’re seeing lumber deliveries everywhere and soil … and people seem to be happy and having a smile on their face for the most part, which is nice,” he said, “I’m even speaking for myself…”

“People are paying more attention to their yards now that they’re home more.”

Kapusta said his team is getting about 200 to 300 calls per day — which he said isn’t too unusual for this time of year.

People staying home, combined with the onset of summer weather, means BBQ companies are also being kept busy.

Phil Squarie of Luxe BBQ told 680 CJOB his business has seen a lot of demand during the pandemic.

“Our BBQ stores were doing a lot of curbside and online orders during that time, and the public really stepped up and supported our local businesses amazingly, and we’re super grateful for that.

“We are definitely feeling a lot better. Everything’s still uncertain… our business was changing hour-by-hour and minute-by-minute sometimes,” he said.

“Now we are allowed to be back open again… We are feeling positive. It feels busy going back to work every day right now… people are flocking to our stores right now.”

Squarie said while his brick-and-mortar stores were closed for some time, Luxe’s online business continues to thrive.

“During this time, we’ve had a lot of people start online shopping, and our website does have an online chat service. A lot of people are just shopping online right now and asking us questions, and it’s been great for us.

“Everybody’s cooking in their backyard right now, and we’re just super grateful to get to be the people who feed that desire.”