Author of the article: Kevin Connor
Publishing date: Dec 11, 2020 • December 11, 2020 • 2 minute read • Elsie Hung, co-owner of of La Di Da Boutique along the Danforth, assists customers from behind a plexiglass barrier as the Broadview-Danforth BIAÊorganized a Think Outside the Big Box event during the noon hour to draw attention to the struggles facing small businesses during the lockdown in Toronto, Ont. on Friday December 11, 2020. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Toronto Sun/Postmedia
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Elsi Hung says her nick-nack shop, La Di Da Boutique on Danforth Ave., has been three times the work with one-third of the profits since the start of pandemic lockdowns for non-essential businesses.
TORONTO December is typically the busiest time of year for many businesses, especially malls and retailers that rely on last-minute holiday shoppers to keep them afloat in the slow months of the new year. But as retail restrictions in every province limit shopping to various degrees, shoppers are rapidly shifting online. With two weeks left before Christmas, many Ontario businesses say the provinceâs lockdown measures, which are among the strictest in the country, are putting their livelihoods in jeopardy. For Toronto clothing store owner Irina Rapaport, her December sales are a fraction of the norm. She says thatâs because itâs impossible for her to do curb-side sales because customers canât try on clothes.