THUNDER BAY - As more businesses open their doors during the gradual reopening of the Ontario economy, business advocates have launched a new social media campaign encouraging people to shop local and highlight some of the hard work being done by local businesses to create a safe and successful shopping environment.
The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, the Community Economic Development Commission, with the support of Impala Canada, have launched a new social media campaign, #ReImagineTbay.
“We are trying to highlight the many ways Thunder Bay businesses are having to reimagine themselves with all the health and safety rules and distancing, it’s really required some businesses to make some pretty major changes,” said Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president, Charla Robinson.
“We want to be recognizing the effort and activity that they are making to keep us all safe so we can go out and shop in their stores and order their products.”
The campaign is encouraging people to shop local and share pictures of some of the good practices being undertaken by businesses to keep staff and customers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
People can use the hashtag #ReImagineTbay for pictures posted to social media and for the next four weeks, a random person using the hashtag will be chosen every day and receive a $100 gift card to a local business.
“During these uncertain times it is crucial to not only support local businesses but to also recognize their efforts in keeping the community safe,” said Eric Zakrewski, CEO of Thunder Bay CEDC.
“As the economy starts to re-open the CEDC encourages the citizens of Thunder Bay to support local when they can and to thank all of our local businesses for their extraordinary efforts by participating in the #ReimagineTBay campaign. The campaign is an easy way for many to engage with their favourite local business and showcase how they are keeping the community safe in our new reality.”
Robinson added that it’s more important than ever to support local businesses, which have been hit particularly hard due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of these businesses have really faced some financial challenges and really struggling to keep going, so they need our support to keep employing those folks and keep being involved in the community and keep insuring we have a breadth of local options in our city,” she said.
Last week, the province entered stage one of its three-stage framework for reopening the economy. Select businesses, including retail stores with a street entrance were permitted to open but must follow all workplace guidelines set out by the province, including practicing social distancing for staff and customers.
According to Robinson, customers are returning, though there is still a little apprehension out there.
“The ones that I’ve talked to, certainly, it seems like they’ve been pretty happy with the number of customers that have been coming out and Recognizing that some people are still a little tentative and not wanting to be out and doing a lot of shopping like they may have previously,” she said. “But they are recognizing that customers are making the effort to come in and follow the rules.”
For other businesses not permitted to open during stage one, Robinson said the public can find other ways to offer support, like purchasing gift cards or visiting the website to find other ways to help.
“Everyone is working hard together to help these businesses do well and keep everyone safe as well,” she said.
The #ReImagineTbay campaign began Monday morning. Winners will be selected from Monday to Friday who use the hashtag on Facebook or Instagram.
