![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Lanes-interior-Susan-300x225.jpg\")
Susan Lane in Lane’s Privateer Inn main dining room<\/p><\/div>\n
Lane hopes that may work to their advantage as they have several smaller rooms including the bookshop and caf\u00e9 that will allow them to seat people at a comfortable distance.<\/p>\n
However, even with that additional space, and a patio that will open as the weather improves, they will only be able to seat 40 to 50 people when they would usually welcome 150.<\/p>\n
Lane has heard from the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia to expect revenues to be 30 percent of normal.<\/p>\n
She worries how the business will survive when profit margins in the restaurant industry are already thin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only five percent. For every $100 we make, if everything goes perfectly perfect, we make five dollars. So, it is incredibly tight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manager and Co-owner at Hell Bay Brewing Company Melanie Perron is facing similar challenges.<\/p>\n
She says they will be looking to capitalize on their patio space to make up for fact they can only accommodate fewer than ten people inside.<\/p>\n
But Perron is concerned as the patio will also see a drastic reduction in numbers from 118 customers to just eight tables.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re supposed to cut our capacity by half. But then people have to come in in their bubbles and by themselves, so I\u2019m not really sure right now, how many people will actually fit out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perron says Hell Bay is fortunate to have had the support of the community as they continued to offer bottle sales throughout the pandemic.<\/p>\n
But she says a large part of their business dried up as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been challenging to say the least, because the majority of our sales are with bars and restaurants. Sending kegs out would probably be about 60 percent of our actual sales. So not having bars or restaurants open has definitely diminished those.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hell Bay also sells their products through the NSLC and had begun the process of rebranding from bottles to cans just as the pandemic took hold.<\/p>\n
Perron says she and her partner Mark Baille couldn\u2019t afford to keep the three part-time staff they would normally have employed and have had to run the business entirely on their own.<\/p>\n
Keeping up with sales, brewing, packaging and delivery has been a struggle for the pair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis whole thing has made us have to reinvent our business, probably four times in the last three months because of the rules and regulations and what we can and can\u2019t do. So, yeah, it\u2019s been a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perron says Hell Bay qualified for some of the government programs aimed at helping businesses through COVID-19.<\/p>\n
However she feels tax relief from the various levels of government could have been more helpful than the programs that are currently in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thing with the government support is it\u2019s a loan. It\u2019s a loan to pay back the government. Because if you think of all our major bills, are all government bills: HST, GST, payroll remittance, so it\u2019s like you\u2019re taking a loan from the government to pay the government. So to me, it\u2019s a double-edged sword.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan Lane agrees it would be better if HST remittance and property taxes could be deferred to help people in the industry get back on their feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are daunting cheques in the best of times, but knowing that those are coming, it\u2019s hard, it\u2019s very difficult. We could always do more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite that, Lane says overall, she is impressed with the programs being offered by the provincial and federal governments.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the circumstances everybody is doing all they can.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that community support that both Lane and Perron feel will get their businesses through what they anticipate will be a rough summer tourist season.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor any restaurant in Nova Scotia, everyone knows the summer is the only time that you really make your revenue. It\u2019s a huge blow. It feels like a farmer has lost its entire crop is how it feels this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lane says because we can\u2019t travel far this summer, it\u2019s a great opportunity to explore your own province and support your local independent businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it might be convenient to go through the drive-through remember that it\u2019s the small guys that are supporting your sports teams and your local festivals and events, using their very last dime to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lane and Perron are grateful for the support the community has shown through the pandemic.<\/p>\n
They hope to see people return now that their doors are open again.<\/p>\n