in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 11 ,2 02 0 | 12 It's in your hands. Make sure your favourite business or professional is nominated for the Oakville Beaver's 2020 Readers' Choice Awards. The Oakville Beaver Readers' Choice Awards were created so you can tell us which local businesses and service providers are the best at what they do. Once the nominations close on July 26, 2020, the nominees will be shortlisted and you will have the chance to vote for your favourite. Help make your favourite local business become a Oakville Beaver Readers' Choice. NomiNatioNs NowopeN Start nominating now at insidehalton.com/oBRC Finally, in mid-March, the coronavirus pandemic arrived. Despite these factors, Burton says the down- town has not seen a surge of closures. "Our downtown busi- nesses are strong and re- silient. We have seen va- cancies tracking at a pret- ty steady level throughout the pandemic," he said. Downtown Oakville BIA spokesperson Milan Bowie declined to com- ment on how many down- town businesses have had to close since the pandem- ic began. Some downtown busi- ness owners said the last few months have not beenfew months have not beenf easy, but noted they are getting by as best they can. Daphne Nissani, owner of the Boa Boutique, said March 16, 2020 now holds a special place in her mem- ory. Besides being her birthday, it was also the day she had to shut down her store, as the Province ordered the closing of all nonessential businesses in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. "It was a pretty emo- tional day," said Nissani. "I was already ready to shut it down. You could see the weekend leading up, the way people were living life. They didn't seem to be understanding the need to keep their dis- tance." Nissani had to get cre- ative to make money where she could. She held a Live Insta- gram Auction to clear out her winter stock, and on- line fashion shows to draw attention to her business. Despite this hard work, revenues have been well below what they were pre-pandemic, and Nissani said she had to lay off all her staff. With the easing of re- strictions, the Oakville merchant was able to re- open the Boa Boutique on May 19 and has gradually been able to offer her staff hours again. "We're getting by," said Nissani. "We pay outrageous rents in these neighbour- hoods, and taxes and all the other things that go along with a business. Even a weekly auction is not going to be able to cov- er these types of expenses and get us to where we were before. It is a work in progress." Rebecca Pointon, own- er of the SPINCO studio in downtown Oakville, was also able to adapt quickly when her business was forced to close.forced to close.f Normally SPINCO holds spin classes and has around 40 stationary bikes to accommodate its customers. With the closure of the studio, SPINCO's classes went online and custom- ers were able to rent the bikes from the studio. "We're making a dent in our expenses right now, but we have taken a huge hit revenue-wise," said Pointon. When SPINCO re- opens, Pointon said there will be a reduced number of bikes to ensure proper physical distancing can be achieved. Additional cleaning and sanitation proce- dures will also be put in place. Paul Barrington, own- er of Barrington's in downtown Oakville, said that while his store was closed, online sales of merchandise increased. Even so, he said, that revenue can't make up what was lost by the store being closed for two months. "We're fortunate. We've been there a long time. We have a very strong cus- tomer base," said Barring- ton. "Certainly I don't see us going anywhere." Barrington said local businesses may benefit from COVID-19 concernedfrom COVID-19 concernedf residents avoiding busy big box stores in favour of the less crowded stores of the downtown. He said reopening his store was wonderful, but also challenging. "We've taken the health concerns extremely seri- ously," said Barrington. "We ask customers to sanitize their hands be- fore they come in thefore they come in thef store. We ask them to wear a mask. We wear gloves and masks. After someone has tried on a coat, we steam it before we put it away. We are constantly cleaning our work surfac- es and credit card termi- nals and we are actually trying to make the pay- ments contact-free." Nissani said masks are NEWS Continued from page 3 OWNERS LOOK FOR NEW WAYS TO KEEP REVENUE COMING IN See page 13 "We've taken the health concerns extremely seriously" -- downtown business owner Paul Barrington