For some business owners in Toronto, it was almost like being sent back in time to the spring.
The merchants you've come to know, through walking in your neighbourhood and stopping in when you see a sale sign, are the same ones who may have to board up their windows by the New Year.
Some already have, and now with a second lockdown, even more are trying to figure out if and how they can survive it.
This is arguably the most crucial time of year for businesses. The busy holiday season can add cashflow to the company before the end of the year.
This week, Black Friday sales and profits are going to be more important than they ever have been. But how are businesses going to cope with the consumer holiday when so many of them have their livelihood at stake?
NEWSTALK1010's Ashley Legassic presents part one of her series - Bleak Friday: Will You Shop Local & Save Businesses This Black Friday?
Along with almost everything we've done this year, Black Friday is going to look different. What would usually be a time for small businesses to thrive, and offer special deals for their friends and neighbours, is instead a time of stress and fear of the unknown.
Carm Rizza and her husband own Hair Dynamix and Salon G. Since their beauty stores reopened, they did everything they could to try and keep the doors open and ward off another lockdown.
"I've had to cut hours, I've had only one layoff, but still in 23 years I've never had to lay anybody off," Carm said. "And that was heartwrenching for me to do that, but it's reality."
The Rizzas bent over backwards in the spring to keep their customers and keep them happy, even with their doors closed.
They ordered in products they didn't have that clients specifically requested, they drove around the city, making deliveries for those who couldn't make it to the store.
The Rizzas know it's a tough time for everyone, but Carm is pleading with her community to support local this Black Friday, instead of favouring the big box stores.
"I think it's important that people realize before they make a big box online purchase how much it is hurting small businesses," Rizza says.
It's something Laura Newton wants to see, too, but the Black Friday deals at her company The Kind Matter are different — being the owner of a low-waste, eco-friendly company, who knows how crucial local businesses are to a community.
"Because we are a low-waste company we don't necessarily go out there and blast these big sales that we have," Newton says. "What we normally do on these types of events is we have a percentage of our sales going toward local charities."
Naomi Shapiro co-owns the fashion label and boutique Rock N Karma on Queen Street West. Not only has she tried to give back to the community by providing masks to those in need, Rock N Karma has been trying to lift up the spirits of their customers, even sending gift boxes with purchases to brighten someone's day.
"We have to go above and beyone because it's very difficult as a small business to do what the big box stores are doing, so we have to be innovative in our ways so that people want to come back to you and shop local," Shapiro says.
Rizza — who is just a tiny fraction of the business owners who are struggling in our city — wants the public to know just how important it is for you to shop local on Black Friday and leading up to the holidays.
"If you have a local business in your community, or even if you have to get in the car to drive down the street — do it. Because you're going to help employ people, you're going to help these stores stay open."
FIND THE BUSINESSES MENTIONED IN THIS STORY:
Hair Dynamix Salon & Spa
Located in the Beaches at 2090 Queen Street East
Website: www.hairdynamix.ca Phone: 416-699-3575
Instagram: @hairdynamix1
Salon G Rizza Hair & Spa
Located in Leslieville at 1403 Gerrard Street East
Website: www.salongrizza.com Phone: 416-466-4247
Instagram: @salongrizza
Online store: Your Beauty Mart @ www.yourbeautymart.com
The Kind Matter Company
15 Martin Street, Unit 6, Milton ON
Website: https://thekindmattercompany.com/ Phone: 905-693-0111
282B Kerr Street, Oakville ON
Phone: 905-338-2992
Instagram: @thekindmattercompany
Rock n Karma
789 Queen Street West
Website: https://www.rocknkarma.com/ Phone: 416-345-8389
Instagram: @rocknkarma