Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

COVID-19

Kamloops restaurants feel the pain of COVID-19-related layoffs

Apr 3, 2020 | 5:29 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s Friday in Kamloops. Before COVID-19, that might have meant meeting friends at a pub for a pint or taking your significant other out for a special meal.

“Busy, vibrant. You know, getting a lot of people heading out on the town, coming here and having dinner and drinks with friends,” Jeff Mitton, co-owner of Mittz Kitchen reminisces.

“We anticipate the weekend,” David Tombs explains. “We see the reservations rolling in. We’re getting excited. We’re heightening all of our prep levels.”

All that has changed. Restaurants are one of the many business types that have taken a massive hit as a result of COVID-19. According to a Restaurants Canada survey, the foodservice sector has lost 800,000 jobs since March 1st. Some restaurants like Mittz Kitchen have remained open with a skeleton crew.

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“Our sales have been cut by 75-80 percent here,” Mitton says. “We also have our other location on the hill, Twisted Olive Steakhouse, which is probably down 90 percent.”

Other owners, like Jared Summers of the Noble Pig and Forno on 5th, have closed their doors entirely and laid off staff.

“We employ over 100 people in this community,” Summers says. “For most of them, it’s their sole income. For a lot of them, it’s the income they get while they’re in school, working on their career.”

Terra Restaurant has pivoted from fine dining to family-style take-out meals. Chef and owner David Tombs usually runs a pretty small crew, both in front and back of the house. He’s worried some of his seasonal staff could have trouble finding full-time jobs this summer.

“I think about some of our service staff, who would be out looking for summer jobs at this point,” Tombs says. “Looking for more full-time employment as the summer came, and that’s going be a real tough one.”

There’s no end-date for the COVID-19 crisis, which is one of the significant challenges many businesses face. However, Summers says he plans to do whatever he can to help those staff members once he’s able to reopen.

“We are there for them,” Summers says. “We are going to come back. We are going to reopen. It’s not going to be exactly business as usual; I can’t imagine it is. Hopefully, we’re doing all those right things to make people feel like they want to come back.”