These days, every time the phone rings at the Saint-Bock microbrewery bar on Saint Denis Boulevard, owner Martin Guimond gets a sinking feeling.
Since earlier this week, when Quebec urged people to work from home and take more precautionary measures before Christmas because of rising COVID cases, cancellations have been flowing in.
“Since like 36 hours, we lost almost every reservation we have. We lost like 325 reservations,” he told Global News.
Guimond says many of the cancellations have been big office parties or birthday gatherings.
He was banking on those parties to help the business survive the quiet winter months after the holidays. Making matters worse, he just spent thousands on food and alcohol he won’t need anymore.
“At the beginning of the week, we were looking to get some more employees. Now I’m thinking, if it continues like that, to maybe close one or two days a week. I will have to fire employees,” he said.
At Burgundy Lion in the southwest, Paul Desbaillets has also seen big reservations cancelled.
“Businesses and larger groups have taken upon themselves to follow the mandate the same way they’re asking people to work from home, and they’ve cancelled those sorts of events,” he explained, adding that smaller groups still seem eager to come out.
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“We’re still getting reservations. I mean, people are still in the holiday mood.”
Martin Vezina of the Quebec Restaurants Association says there have been very few COVID outbreaks associated with restaurants.
“Restaurants are a safe space,” he said. “We provide less risk for gathering than in the conference room in an office where unvaccinated people can be there also.”
“The hospitality industry during this whole time has been proving that it’s not where it all goes down,” said Desbaillets. “I would hope that the industry is not the scapegoat sort of this time around, since it did have a very hard time, the first time. It was very much a target.”
While Global News was at Saint Bock, Guimond got two calls reservations for parties of four. He shed tears of joy,
“For two days you hear people cancel every time,” Guimond said as he wiped his eyes. “We lost like the major part of our holiday revenue. Those two people called to get a reservation for four people each night, it’s great.”
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