NORTH BAY -- With the 14-day shutdown quickly approaching, businesses in North Bay say that this time, they’re ready.

“Definitely feeling more prepared,” said Richard Pellerin, owner of Pellerin Painting. “We know what to expect. We know how to set up and prepare the orders. We hand out our phone numbers, we have four numbers available to people, so it makes it nice and easy.”

Pellerin Painting adjusted to curbside pickup at the beginning of the pandemic when businesses were forced to close for several weeks before allowing curbside pickup for customers. However, even with all the obstacles, Pellerin said his business is doing well.

“We’ve been through this before," he said. "The first one was obviously unexpected and quick. But for us, it was actually a blessing because we actually got busier. People wanted to do stuff at home, they wanted to paint, renovate.”

Pellerin isn’t alone in feeling more prepared for the shutdown. The Work Shoppe, which opened its doors in September and missed the first lockdown, said a lot has been learned in the last several months.

Feeling prepared

“I think it was something that we could foresee coming,” said co-owner Kim Culin. “So I think we’re pretty prepared for it. As far as the things that go on in here, we’ve been throwing around the idea of offering virtual classes so we can drop off products and packages and people can participate via Zoom for things like that.”

Culin said they will be offering curbside pickup for vendors and will post available products each day.

Unlike earlier in 2020, businesses will be able to immediately offer curbside services, so many won’t miss any extra days, especially with the lockdown taking place during the Christmas holidays.

“We’ve been getting lots of calls actually,” said Pellerin. “People are worried, you know, that they won’t be able to get product, but it’s going to be business as usual for us.”

“I would say as a small business, I know that family time is important to my partner Carrie and myself, so we were really planning to shut down for a good portion of the holidays anyway,” Culin added.

The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce said the shutdown will obviously have a toll on local businesses, but it is for the best.

'You're still bleeding'

“This lockdown… the thousand cuts, you’re still bleeding,” said chamber CEO Peter Chirico. “You know, it hasn’t stopped the transfer of the virus and people are dying because of it. Commerce over health, I don’t think there’s any choice in that and honestly, I would have been a lot happier if the federal government had of come out a month ago and said ‘we’re locking everything down.’”

As the city braces for another hit, Chirico said it’s important for everyone to support local businesses.

“These are the people that paid for your memberships or your kid's sports,” he said. “They contribute to that. They do everything in our community to give back to our community, let's give back to them.”

The Ford government announced on Monday its Ontario Small Business Support Grant will provide a minimum of $10,000 and up to $20,000 to help small business owners during the lockdown.

“The first time around we didn’t have to lay anybody off and same thing here,” said Pellerin. “We’re going to keep our staff going whether business is up or down. We’re not going to let anybody go.”