When it felt like the world was going crazy hoarding toilet paper and it was nearly impossible to find a roll, the same thing was happening with dog food.
Shelves were quickly emptied as everyone panic-bought enough dog food to last for months, worrying the COVID-19 pandemic would prevent supplies from getting to Newfoundland and Labrador.
As the owner of Critters N’ Things on Commonwealth Ave. in Mount Pearl, Mark Winsor was overwhelmed by the number of panicked customers. Many of his employees had just stopped working, saying they didn’t feel safe working in retail during the outbreak.
“The phones were ringing off the hook and I couldn’t keep up with everything, so I called my kids and said ‘I really need your help,’” Winsor recalls. “When they came in, they couldn’t believe what Daddy was going through.”
Winsor says he hated that he needed to rely on his eldest two children — 12-year-old Georgia and 14-year-old Matthew — but he had “no other choice” if he was going to keep the shop running.
“I’m in a situation where I need the help. I still have to pay my taxes, my bills, my mortgage,” says Winsor. “It’s been tough. It’s been really tough.”
His son and daughter trade off shifts so one of them is always at the store to help their dad while the other is at home with their little sister, eight-year-old Jane. Winsor’s wife is a nurse, so she’s busier than ever.
Although Winsor is allowed to have customers enter the store in small numbers, he’s devised a different system to provide more protection for his team — which now includes his children.
He’s using the building’s two entrances to ensure there’s just one customer at a time in each vestibule — paying at one door by tapping their debit card, and picking up their order at the second door.
“Customers tell us what they want, and we run off to get it for them,” explains Winsor. “If they want a harness for their dog, we’ll bring them a half-dozen different options to try on. If they want small animal food, we’ll bring them a selection so they can choose what they’d like.”
Customers also have the option of paying online (via e-transfer) and having their orders brought right out to their vehicle, or have their items personally delivered to their home by Winsor — which he says has given him “a new appreciation for Skip the Dishes drivers.”
While the personal shopping service is working, Winsor says it isn’t the same as customers being able to freely wander through the shop and pick up things they want to purchase. Since business is slower, some pet food and treats are going short-dated before they can be sold.
After a difficult few weeks, a few of Winsor’s employees felt comfortable returning to work. Critters N’ Things is still open its regular hours — 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays — so they can take care of the animals. Winsor also says the quieter evenings provide a chance for people who are especially nervous about being out in public to do their shopping.
Winsor started working at the business back in the early ’80s and eventually purchased Critters N’ Things from his parents. He already had experience as a dog handler and a groomer, so he expanded the business to include a grooming salon.
But while Winsor is allowed to keep running Critters N’ Things, his other business — Four Paws Dog and Cat Grooming — was mandated to close on March 24.
He’s reached out to his MHA and encouraged his clients to do the same, pointing out that pets can develop painful nail, hair and skin problems without regular grooming. He’s doing his best to help clients in the meantime by posting videos with tips on at-home nail trims and brushing on the Four Paws Dog and Cat Grooming Facebook page.
“It kills me that we have to stay closed. I hate saying no to my customers. I really want to groom their pets and do nailis, but I have to obey the laws,” says Winsor. “I understand the restrictions and I’m going to follow the rules, but I really want to open up.”
Despite Winsor and his children working harder than ever before, his sales are down overall. Since Critters N’ Things is an independent, family-owned business, Winsor says it’s difficult not to have a corporate group to rely upon during these hard times. He appreciates every single sale, and encourages Mount Pearl residents to remember the importance of “shopping local,” especially now.
“We’ve built this business from the bottom up, and we work hard every day of the week to keep it going,” says Winsor. “I’m making deliveries, I’m unloading trucks when new shipments come in, I’m doing it all — and I could still lose everything overnight.”
Winsor and his family are all too familiar with the challenges of running a business. It’s barely been a year since Commonwealth Avenue was torn up for months of road work, leaving motorists to navigate a terrain so frustrating that Winsor says everyone avoided it at all costs. His sales plummeted — and just when he thought things were stabilizing, Mount Pearl was struck by Snowmageddon 2020 and the business took another wallop.
Winsor says people regularly ask him if he’s going to give in and shut down Critters N’ Things until the pandemic is over, but he says he won’t do that to his customers — saying he’s “the captain who refuses to abandon his ship.”
“I’m fortunate to be able to keep the shop open, but it’s still really, really hard,” says Winsor. “We all have to work together and fight this virus. Hopefully, soon, things will start turning around.”
Critters N’ Things is located at 11 Commonwealth Ave. in Mount Pearl. It’s open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Customers can call (709) 368-8660 to arrange for curbside delivery or pick-up, or come into the entrance of the store to be served by a personal shopper.
