While many communities struggled to keep businesses open through COVID-19 restrictions and varying levels of lockdown, the town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick has mostly managed to maintain status quo — and even see new businesses open.
Known for its seaside dining, renowned golf course and historic Algonquin Hotel, the town typically draws tourists all through the summer and banks on that.
So when COVID-19 hit, the business community wasn’t sure what to expect from the 2020 summer season.
Kevin Simmonds, vice president of the local BIA, owner of the Red Herring Pub and co-owner of two other restaurants, says it was a coin toss.
“We honestly didn’t know what was going to happen,” he says.
“Everybody was like, ‘Let’s do the best we can to survive and see where it takes us.’”
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Travel restrictions meant seasonal visitors likely not be returning that summer, but they also meant more New Brunswickers wouldn’t be travelling outside the province.
The rise of the staycation, the Atlantic Bubble and the town’s reputation as a tourist spot led many locals to spend time and money in there.
Simmonds says people were coming from all over New Brunswick, enough to make it feel almost like a normal summer season.
“It was amazing,” he says.
St. Andrews Mayor Brad Henderson says the town wrapped that summer pulling in about 90 per cent of what it would have in a pre-COVID summer.
“We were extremely lucky if you look at the pandemic and how other communities fared,” he says.
He says 2021 was even better.
Henderson says the town did lose one business, but it may reopen at some point. At least three others have opened, as well, including St. Andrews Brewing Company in 2022.
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“The support has been incredible,” says co-owner Jess Doucette.
Doucette says she and the two other co-owners likely would’ve opened sooner, but the unknown of the COVID-19 pandemic made her hesitant.
She says finally she felt ready and her partners talked her into opening up.
She says a lot of their customers have told her they discovered or re-discovered the area thanks to the pandemic.
“It’s kind of rediscovering their province. I think that came from the pandemic, but I feel like that’s going to continue,” Doucette says.
“I feel like they’ve found a new love.”