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Local businesses ‘thrilled’ to reopen as Peel enters Phase 2

July 2, 2020   ·   0 Comments

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

The Ontario government announced that Peel Region, alongside Toronto, can finally move into Stage 2 of the reopening of the province last week. 

“Because of our collective efforts, we continue to make real and significant progress in stopping the spread of COVID-19,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “As a result, more regions have met the public health criteria to move into Stage 2 and reopen more services for the communities to enjoy. Just as importantly, these efforts to stop the spread have ensured that we aren’t seeing spikes in cases in those regions that have been open for well over a week now.”

Peel Public Health are continuing their work in responding to and actively planning on the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to support residents, the Region and local businesses.

“We will continue to respond to the pandemic, and Peel Public Health is here to support our local situation and provide guidance to residents, businesses, and the Region,” said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lawrence Loh. “A localized approach has been, and will continue to be, the right method to respond and recognize our unique needs and local realities of COVID-19.”

Caledon’s local businesses couldn’t be more thrilled to finally reopen their doors after the long, hard months of being temporary closed.

The Kitchen at Mono Mills, though remaining open for takeout during the pandemic, are exceptionally grateful to be allowed to open more services, such as their outdoor dining area for the community. 

“We remained open servicing our clients and making our takeout and driveway pick-up as safe as possible. We are forever grateful to our existing clients and our new clients for giving us the opportunity to service them during this very difficult unprecedented time,” said Owner, Liana Gualtieri.

Gualtieri is a single mom who relies on her business to provide a stable life for herself and her children. As Caledon rolls into Phase 2, Gualtieri is able to provide an outdoor area under a tent for the community to enjoy the warm weather and dine, like in the old days. 

“Every day is challenging, things come up continuously that make it more and more difficult to work properly and to pay the bills,” she said. “It is tough being a business owner in these times, especially a restaurant owner, but, as I said, we are very grateful to the people who drive into our parking lot. I just cannot wait to be able to give them all a hug again!”

Coffee Time, located at 15 Allan Drive, wasn’t as fortunate to be able to keep their doors open due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but none the less, owner Tellos Charalambides couldn’t be more excited to reach the next step of reopening the province. 

“Wonderful being back, wonderful serving the people that I’ve known for 35 years,” he said with excitement. 

Charalambides has independently owned the Coffee Time in Bolton for three decades and significantly suffered after being forced to close back in March.

“It was a challenge every day to get up and not know if you’re going to come back or not. You’re waiting and waiting and waiting for the announcement from the government to let you know if you’re going to be able to open up or not,” he said. “Spend 35 years of your life, and you don’t know when or if, you’re going to be open. It’s been a big challenge.” 

Charalambides and his wife Monique have listened to the instructions given by the provincial government and public health to enforce safety measures for their customers. 

“We put the physical distancing lines in front of the cashiers and the special shielding for the cash and the pastries. We have the hand sanitizer and everything else,” he claimed. ““Wonderful being back, wonderful serving the people that I’ve known for 35 years.”

Alongside lifted restrictions for restaurants and outdoor dining, residents who have been waiting to add some beauty into their life after the long months of quarantining will now be allowed to book appointments at personal care services, such as hair salons. 

Salon manager Tristan Glaw, from BeataTe Hair Salon says reopening is a mixture of relief and stress, while trying to regain the loss of four months of work. 

“Relieving, but stressful at the same time. Relieving because being forced to close for almost four months was very devastating to the financial side of the business, just when the salon was really starting to be profitable after our four years in Bolton. We were forced to close, and years of hard work was undone in four months,” he said. “It is relieving to know that we can open again with our heads up and optimistic and regain to hopefully surpass our pre-covid progress.”

He added, “Stressful because re-booking clients cancelled over a period of four months into a period of one or two months, proves to be really challenging.”

Not knowing a timeline on when salons would be able to open and having to cope with that financial uncertainty put major challenges on Glaw and the team at BeataTe Hair Salon. 

“First the closure was supposed to last a few weeks, so we cancelled only a few weeks, then kept extending the closure multiple times,” said Glaw. “Thankfully we were allowed to re-open now, but any longer would have led to bankruptcy. 

As the community gets comfortable with Stage 2, the next stage will hopefully be close by. Stage 3 will allow for the reopening of all remaining businesses and community spaces that have yet to be allowed to open back up, while slowly lifting more restrictions. 

Please visit Ontario.ca for further updates. 

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