SYDNEY, N.S. — A romantic dinner at home might be the key to easing any inhibitions about dining out in a pandemic-impacted Valentine's Day.
It just might save one of the most important days of the year for restaurants restricted by early hours and limited spacing issues these days.
“If people are skittish and don’t want to go out in public, we hope they will support their local restaurants through takeout or delivery because we are so important for communities and honestly, we are dying,” said Luc Erjavec, vice president Atlantic for Restaurants Canada.
The latest jobs report from Statistics Canada issued last Friday showed that Nova Scotia alone is down 13,200 jobs in its food service accommodation sector as compared to February 2020 and Erjavec said the majority of those jobs are in the food-service industry.
“It is a long way from normal and we want to try to get whatever business we can get and continue to work with governments on ongoing support.”
Erjavec said two factors will impact the typical Valentine's business at restaurants: 50 per cent capacity rules and an earlier than usual closing time.
“It will be a lot different. It will be slower. That’s not to say it won’t be an important day and any event that helps put bums in seats is really appreciated.”
At Sydney's Governors Pub and Eatery, management is marketing Valentine’s specials over three days to make up for a lack of space and operating hours.
“They have to be gone before 11 (p.m.), so basically, on the big nights on Valentine's and New Year's we would do three sittings,” said Chef Ardon Mofford, the restaurant owner.
“Now we can only do two and they are reduced but they are all sold out.”
Prior to the pandemic, days before and after would also be booked solid while the restaurant was able to handle its full capacity.
To help make up for that lost revenue, Governors has enrolled in all of the online apps and ordering processes and it has been helping them bring their food to a younger demographic.
“We have more tablets and iPads going now with orders coming in from online. It’s a whole new changing world,” he said. “After 29 years in the restaurant business, I have to re-educate myself on everything that is new.”
SPENDING
Generally speaking, the pandemic has Canadians expecting to spend a little less on Valentine’s Day this year.
A survey by hellosafe.ca showed that people are making a budget of about $74, which is approximately 20 per cent less than 2020.
That budget must include flowers, because people are still buying them by the bunches.
“It’s probably going to be just as busy as last year for Valentine's as last year,” said Dave Mackillop, owner of Mackillop’s Flowers in Sydney River. “Christmas was just as busy if not busier, too.”
There was a downturn in business early in the spring but things have returned to normal thanks to an uptick in phone orders and an increased emphasis on delivery and curbside pickups.
“Probably after May it is pretty much just as busy as it was in past years,” he said.
“People don’t know what to do, so they are sending flowers more. It brightens people's day and they like that and like the result it gives, so it is definitely a win-win.”
GIFTING
Valentine's Day and a relatively new trend known as Galentine's Day are also proving pandemic proof this year, as well.
“There is definitely a leaning towards very sentimental and more gifts associated with staying at home,” said Natalie Magliaro, owner of Emerald Isle Gifts in Sydney.
“Slippers have been big this year and body products and bath products and things like that.”
Magliaro has been in the gift business for 26 years and has seen many changes, including the onset of Galentine's Day, celebrated over the past five years.
It sees acquaintances and single people celebrate their friendships on Feb. 13 each year and has become as popular as Valentine's Day itself in terms of gift-giving.
The back-to-back gift-giving days in February have helped Magliaro's business bounce back from pandemic downtimes.
“A lot of things change but one thing that remains the same regardless of what is going on is people still want to celebrate with the ones they love.”
DESSERT
Pre-orders for cookies and cakes and other desserts to enjoy on Valentine's Day ended on Tuesday at Not Just Cakes Sweet Studio in Sydney River.
This will be the third Valentine's Day in a row for the shop and things keep getting busier, despite the pandemic.
“I would say we are slightly busier,” said Tara Parsons-Donovan, the shop owner, comparing this year to last year.
“We reopened after closing for a couple of months and we have been trying to catch our breaths since.”
Locals have continued to support the business, while orders from outside the province have also taken off in recent months as loved ones who cannot get home send sweets to friends and family in Cape Breton.
“People just have a huge sweet tooth,” she said. “We were born and raised with sweets. We can’t have dinner without having a sweet and a cup of tea. People are after the good quality stuff we grew up on and that’s what we provide.”
A LITTLE LOVE
Erjavec is hoping the province can add an extra hour to serving times for restaurants across Nova Scotia.
“It is an incremental approach which Dr. (Robert) Strang and the premier seem to go and we are hopeful we could get it because it would help something like Valentine's,” he said.
“They were hesitant to do it last week because of the Super Bowl but maybe they will have a little love in their eyes and give us the extra hour.”
A little bit can help sit-down restaurants that have lost 35 per cent of their business in 2020, he said.
“Going into 2021 we are still looking somewhere between 20-25 per cent down. We don’t expect to reach 2019 levels until 2023.”
Greg McNeil is a business reporter at the Cape Breton Post.
