The economic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on small businesses is threatening one of Regina’s most popular independent burger joints.
“This is my place, my design, my menu, my blood, sweat and tears. It’s been my everything for 12 years,” said Mercury Café & Grill owner Chris Plumb.
But after 12 years in business as a Regina staple, the Mercury Café made a post on Facebook Tuesday asking for support, saying they are ‘hanging by a thread’.
“I felt like I was only just one bad week away from having to close the doors.”
Plumb’s motivation for continuing to push through his business’s struggles is simple.
“To me it’s all about the payroll and making sure my staff are taken care of. That’s most important for sure in this place these days. It’s been on my mind for two years,” Plumb said.
“In fact, it’s really the only reason I’ve done what I’ve had to do. It’s to keep the staff employed and know that there’s an end to this. I mean, I haven’t been paid in two years.”
Mercury employees are trying their best to spread the message about the diner’s struggles.
“I’m working at The Mercury Café today! Did you know that the winter months are extremely hard for small businesses? Cold weather combined with a pandemic makes for empty restaurants and struggling businesses,” said Micaella Joy in a Facebook post Tuesday.
Joy also called the Mercury “a gem in the Cathedral area.”
The people of Regina have answered the call in the days following the Facebook post with lineups out the door.
“It almost brought me to tears last night when I saw the support, the lineups, every booth full and the hustle and the bustle and everybody really just doing their part,” reflected Plumb.
Ten years without financial strain as the owner of the Mercury, Plumb says he got through the first year of the pandemic thanks to some money he had set aside and with government aid. But since that money has run out it doesn’t take long for the financial situation to go downhill.
“For 10 years I never had an issue. We just flew through each month like it was nothing. We were busy all the time.”
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Like many other things when the pandemic hit, that stability changed.
“I have a lot of debt which I never carried on this place at all ever. And now it’s time to get that debt paid cause without that money I would’ve sunk. I would’ve been done,” said Plumb.
Plumb suggests that unfortunately a week of support likely won’t be enough to sustain the business long term.
“I just really hope this continues because you know one or two days is great but that’s a Band-Aid for me. I really need to have the support here,” Plumb said.
“If I could have 20 of these days I’d be right back on top of the world and we wouldn’t have to worry anymore.”
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