The COVID-19 pandemic changed every thing for every person and every organization including the businesses operating in Belleville’s Downtown District.
At its virtual Annual General Meeting Tuesday evening, the chair of the Downtown District BIA Board of Directors Kathryn Brown said optimism was high at the beginning of the year with a record breaking Savour the Chill event.
“Then WHAM!! Covid hit and hit us hard. But we didn’t give up. We worked together and found different ways to do business. After our staff created the Online Marketplace we became recognized as leaders in innovation by our peers far and wide.”
BIA Executive Director Marijo Cuerrier presented the 2020 Annual Report to the board.
Here are just a few highlights:
There were 177 active businesses in the Downtown District with 177 street level units being available and 135 of those being occupied. Vacant units totalled 41. Of the 41 vacancies, 20 are chronically vacant, 10 are under renovation and 11 are tenant-ready.
24% of the businesses in the core were classified as retail while another 11% were in the food and beverage business.
The Downtown District welcomed 20 new businesses over the year along with six new property owners. The number of businesses closing totalled 11.
Despite the pandemic, foot traffic was up considerably from last year. Pedestrian counts showed a weekly average of 5,500 people after the the lockdown was lifted. Foot traffic increased dramatically during the weeks-long summertime promotion Al Fresco (lane closures, outdoor patios and entertainment) which featured a colourful light display Prismatica, reaching as high as almost 8,000.
However, the pandemic still took a serious toll on business with around 60% of survey respondents reporting lower sales than the year before.
Still another survey of member businesses, customers, and visitors showed a satisfaction rating with the downtown of 8.3 out of 10.
Chair Kathryn Brown made this comment.
“The fact that we’re cleaning and vacuuming and wiping down PIN pads and doing all of those things we need to do, our visitors and our residents didn’t see it. What they felt was safe and they had a really enjoyable time.”
See the entire 2020 Annual Report here.
“We could not, in all good conscience, when everyone we know is struggling to keep their doors open to keep their customers happy, to be able to survive this we just didn’t feel that in good conscience that we could ask for more money.”
And the mayor of Belleville had high praise for the membership, the board of directors, and the staff of the BIA on behalf of city council and residents.
Mayor Mitch Panciuk said when COVID-19 struck businesses and the BDIA could have panicked and given up but instead they kept fighting and finding new ways to do business.
Panciuk focused on the success of the summertime promotions Al Fresco and its outdoor patios and entertainment including the colorful Prismatica display.
“There were so many comments that I received and members of city council received from people rediscovering downtown in a different style and a different format and that was very, very good so you know again I just want to say congratulations.”
(Photo: BDIA)
