LISTOWEL – One thing everyone can agree on with the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has been a difficult 21 months for small businesses.
At the beginning of 2022, the province introduced restrictions on several small businesses, such as capacity limits or outright closing them, as the Omicron variant was spreading at a rapid pace. For some businesses, this was the fourth such lockdown they experienced.
One local business owner, Alan McArthur of Listowel Squash Courts, decided something needed to be done for these businesses.
“I thought there’s not very many places to reach out to ask for help, and it’s really hard to ask the consumer for anything while being shut down,” he said. “I thought a coupon book would be a way that the consumer can help the small businesses, and at the same time getting something in return.”
Added McArthur, “Having my own small business, I knew the struggles I was having and knew there was other places in town and around town that had to be struggling as well.”
The idea started small: approach local businesses about providing a coupon for the book, with the goal of offering $2,022 in savings in the year 2022.
The book would be free for businesses to participate in, and would be sold for $100 per book, with all proceeds being split evenly amongst impacted local businesses.
It soon became a big idea.
McArthur said the business community really stepped up, with more than 40 businesses participating while offering more than $3,500 in savings. One local business, Larry Hudson Chevrolet Buick GMC, offered to pay the printing costs, meaning 100 per cent of the proceeds will go back to the local businesses.
“Even if they had a good or decent year and COVID didn’t affect them, they still really wanted to reach out and get these businesses to stick around,” he said.
McArthur said it was a lot of work to get the book together, but found that talking to local business owners motivated him to reach out to more.
“I heard some really heartfelt stories,” he said. “There were a few times we were talking business owner to business owner, and it got really personal… it really pushed me to contact more businesses, to get out there and see if there were more that felt the same way but had no outlet.”
The books will be sold at several local businesses in Listowel. McArthur is hoping the books will be in stores by the end of the week.
For more information, email alan@listowelsquashcourts.ca.
