It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year.
But for Regina businesses that have been financially struggling for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, not being able to host and cater Christmas parties is a major revenue hit.
In a typical year, The Atlas Hotel, which includes a conference centre, waterpark, restaurant and pub, hosts 30 to 35 holiday gatherings between mid-November and mid-December. The average function brings in about $10,000 to $15,000, CEO Ryan Urzada said.
With travel and business meetings tapering off as the Christmas season approaches, Urzada said those parties become the main source of revenue.
But with the coronavirus continuing to spread throughout the city, province and country and restrictions on gatherings – including restrictions on serving food and beverage at the gatherings that are permissible – The Atlas Hotel isn’t hosting any this year.
“If people can’t be fed in a conference room, they’re typically just cancelling,” Urzada said.
Instead of “running like crazy,” reliant on about 140 staff members to meet demand, the CEO said it’s so quiet he’s had to lay people off.
“We’ve had to get pretty lean on our operations,” Urzada said, adding he’s become reliant on federal, provincial and municipal subsidies to pay the bills these days.
For Rob Reinhardt, who owns Prairie Smoke and Spice BBQ, it’s a similar story.
Overall, he said revenue from his business, which includes year-round catering and a food truck in the warmer months, has been down 70 per cent.
As Christmas approaches, Prairie Smoke usually books a number of events. Last year, the company fed about 2,500 people at 15 different functions and made about $60,000.
This year, two workplaces and a school have made small orders totalling fewer than 100 individually packaged servings for staff who are onsite. Reinhardt suspects one could end up cancelling.
With January and February almost always slow, Reinhardt said the money from December Christmas parties is crucial.
He understands the necessity of curbing the spread of the coronavirus and the necessity of public health orders restricting gatherings and the serving of food and beverage, but “for a business owner who depends on these get togethers, it’s going to hurt this year,” he said.
Legacy Catering and Services owner Josh Robins said the past 10 months have been a constant exercise in adaptation.
“A good December would have been massive to save our year,” Robins said. “Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen and we just have to roll with it.”
Like The Atlas Hotel and Prairie Smoke, Legacy continues to explore new ways of doing business during these difficult times.
For example, instead of catering a Christmas dinner for a community association, Robins said this year the community association is ordering hundreds of individual meals for various households.