It's a critical time for the Nanaimo area retail sector, which has been beaten up by COVID-19 and impacted heavily by online shopping giants like Amazon. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

buy local

Shop local message amplified as Nanaimo retailers enter critical holiday shopping season

Nov 26, 2020 | 5:28 AM

NANAIMO — Retail advocates say a strong finish to a difficult year is paramount for operators to weather the COVID-19 storm.

Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Kim Smythe said battered local retailers are “tightly squeezed” by two pandemic waves and evolving buying habits requiring a significant late year rally.

“This roughly six, seven week stretch can be worth up to 65 per cent of a merchants annual sales,” Smythe told NanaimoNewsNOW.

He estimated upwards of 20 per cent of all businesses in Nanaimo evaporated this year, including losses in retail.

Smythe said everybody was caught off guard by swift business shutdowns in mid March, sidelining many retailers for nearly three months.

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“That cash revenue is gone, so they have have to count a lot on the cash revenue that they can get now. Add to the fact that they have to compete with the likes of Amazon, it’s extremely challenging out there today.”

Stores are seeing fewer shoppers amid rising COVID-19 numbers regionally, while losing the ability to earn them back due to large online heavyweights like Amazon.

“You have to be selling your products online today to compete and for many that’s a challenging investment to make. For some it’s a bit too late in the game,” Smythe said.

Despite the gauntlet of challenges, Smythe said most local retailers he’s spoken to are optimistic they’ll outlast the pandemic to continue serving their customers, but conceded more local stores undoubtedly won’t make it.

He said it’s more important than ever for Nanaimo area shoppers to think about how they’ll spend their money this holiday season.

“The Chamber has one theme these days and that’s ‘eat, drink, shop and think local.'”

Smythe estimated roughly 15 per cent of Nanaimo’s 6,000 business licenses are held by retailers.

Greg Wilson, Retail Council of Canada’s director of government relations in B.C., reported roughly 2.1 million people in the country are employed in retail, including some 20,000 British Columbians.

Wilson is concerned about further economic hardship and other negative consequences in the months ahead.

“If those local retail stores close, our main shopping streets and our malls might have a lot of empty spaces. That won’t be as interesting for us and we won’t have them to come back to after the pandemic,” Wilson told NanaimoNewsNOW.

He described the recently announced province-wide mandatory mask wearing policy in indoor public spaces as essential to creating safer retail settings for merchants and consumers.

He said many retailers, even small mom and pop shops, have alternate ways for customers to buy their products by phoning ahead or checking their website.

“They’re adapting to this change and finding ways to get their customers the goods that the customers want. In this case it’s important people remember to shop early because something that has to be delivered can take a little bit extra time.”

Tomorrow NanaimoNewsNOW will publish stories detailing the plight of several local retailers, share how they’re fairing and adjusting, and also get a sense of what their future looks like.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes