With more pubs and restaurants broadening their patios, the Kamloops Downtown Business Improvement Association says a lot of owners are cautiously optimistic.
KCBIA Executive Director Carl DeSantis was on the NL Morning News, and was asked if businesses were taking a calculated risk or a leap of faith?
“A little bit of both. I mean there is confidence because Kamloops has an appetite, no pun intended, for outdoor patios and so there the anticipation going forward that with the growth of the patio space, we will invite more people,” he said.
DeSantis notes owners know at this point that reopening will come with some uncertainty.
“There are risks because these businesses have been, for the most part, without revenue for a few months and now there’s expenses associated to expanding, buying more tables, more patio chairs and then of course the perimeter fencing so there is a risk,” he added, saying owners also know there are a lot of variables at play.
“Hopefully we’ve got some cooperative weather, we’ve got behaviours that are going to support this going forward from everybody in the community and the businesses will do very well as the patio season continues until the end of October.”
And DeSantis says he is happy that Premier John Horgan is encouraging British Columbians to vacation in our own backyards this summer, saying, “this is a really good way to explore your own backyard, explore all of the things that we have to offer.”
“It’s a fantastic place but we’re doing this with apprehension and caution going forward because we don’t want to rush things too fast.”