Newmarket businesses find ways to pivot during coronavirus pandemic

#futureofwork: 'If this is helping people ease the anxiety and stress then we’re here'

Yorkregion.com
May 25, 2020
Lisa Queen

In a time when the global coronavirus pandemic seized the world, many businesses found ways to pivot to continue operating.

That includes many in Newmarket, such as Market Brewing Company, which was quick off the mark in March when the state of emergency was declared.

When general manager Piers Simpkin found out Southlake Regional Health Centre was in “desperate need” of hand sanitizer, he and head brewer Josh Uttley wanted to help.

“I said we’ll figure it out. If they need it, we’re a community-based brewery and that’s what we’ve put our foundation on,” Simpkin said.

Within 10 hours, the pair figured out they could revamp part of the Leslie Street business to start brewing up their Bare Hands Sanitizer using a recipe from the World Health Organization.

Market Brewing donated the first 1,000 bottles of the hand sanitizer to Southlake.

As of mid-May, the business is now selling bottles to the public. For example, the 250-millilitre bottle sells for $6.95 and the 500-millilitre size goes for $9.95.

“We’re not here to make a quick buck. We’ve built our roots here. It’s not my personality and it’s not the personality we want this company to be,” Simpkin said.

“It’s a hard commodity to find right now, so if this is helping people ease the anxiety and stress then we’re here and we’re doing our best to get everybody through this.”

Making hand sanitizer was not enough for Market Brewing.

While half the business was making sanitizer, the other half continued as a brewery.

The closure of their taproom during COVID-19 to help flatten the curve created a sudden disruption in in-house community events and sales.

The company quickly responded with an online portal in order to deliver beer straight from the brewery to customers’ doorsteps, Simpkin said.

For more information, visit marketbrewingco.com.

Fourth Dimension Comic Book Shop on Main Street is about as much an old-school business as you can find.

High-tech is not the way owner Steven Gilbert does things, relying instead on face-to-face encounters with customers in the store.

After the coronavirus put an end to patrons leisurely perusing shelves in the store, but at the same time gave people self-isolating at home lots of time to entertain themselves indoors, Gilbert came up with a plan.

He took photos of items on his shelves, made a drop box link and invited customers to virtually browse his inventory. They could email him, make purchases and Gilbert would do porch drop-offs or curbside pickups.

“The store couldn’t be open, so it all had to be done behind closed doors,” he said.

“It’s a way to virtually browse the store without being able to come into the store.”

Nathalie Beaubien, owner of Soap Box Laundry Services on Eagle Street, didn’t revamp her business during the coronavirus outbreak, but she has offered laundry tips for people anxious during the pandemic.

“As of right now, researchers are unsure of how long the virus can last on clothing, so if there has been any chance of exposure, the clothing should be removed from the body and stored in a separate laundry bin or bag from other clothing,” she said in an email.

“If there has been risk of exposure, try and use gloves while separating laundry or putting into the washing machine. Make sure to remove and dispose of the gloves as soon as you are finished and then wash your hands thoroughly.”

Wash clothes on the warmest setting possible, disinfect machinery and handles after use, and wear a mask if doing laundry in a shared facility, such as an apartment building or laundromat, Beaubien said.

For information about what the Town of Newmarket is doing to help businesses during the pandemic, visit newmarket.ca/covid19.