London Drugs throws lifeline to local restaurants hit by COVID-19
It’s been a tough year for restaurants. They were open, then closed, then opened again for limited seating, then closed again with patio seating only, and now they are open again. It's enough to make your head spin and enough to give restaurant owners a migraine.
“We dropped about 65 per cent in sales,” said Ron Macgillivray, owner of Fable Diner in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood.
There are many similar stories. Paul Moran launched Wild Origins from Tofino in December 2020 just before COVID-19 shut everything down. His company forages for wild foods from the forests and sea, like seaweed and mushrooms, and it had been offering foraging tours with dining experiences featuring the gathered food.
“It has been challenging times for sure for us,” said Moran.
Now both Wild Origins and Fable Diner have been thrown a lifeline by London Drugs through the company’s Local Central program. It offers up shelf space to local businesses and in May began to include local restaurants too.
“We thought what another great way for us to be able to help support restaurants and offer up some shelf space,” said Edwin Chang, manger of Vancouver’s London Drugs at Broadway and Cambie streets.
Wild Origins' six packaged foods and Fable Diner’s hot sauces are now available on store shelves at several London Drugs locations.
So far, 17 local restaurants that have joined the program and the businesses get to keep all the profits.
“We do feel quite fortunate with the help that we’ve received from London Drugs being able to get our products into 14 stores,” said Moran.
“In times of the pandemic it’s a positive light for us,” added Macgillivray.
It is hoped they are not forced to close again but if they are, they are better prepared to handle the storm.
“We’re all in this together and I think it’s one of the best ways we’re going to get through this for sure,” said Chang.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING NEWS Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'