Andy Dinner stares out the window of his barbershop and contemplates what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to the neighbourhood he loves.
“I have seen some businesses close here, and it’s tragic. It’s absolutely tragic,” Dinner said.
Dinner, 33, is as local as a person can be. He lives six blocks from his barbershop and he was born just up the street.
Forget Paris and London — to Dinner, the strip of stores along Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto is the most beautiful place in the world.
“I have been fortunate to do a little bit of travelling overseas, but I don’t want to live anywhere else,” Dinner said. “This neighbourhood means literally everything to me.”
During the summer, as the pandemic raged across the globe, Dinner took a chance — a big chance. Even though businesses were going bankrupt and shutting down because of the economic turmoil, he opened one.
“I knew this specific spot was vacant for about two years before I contacted the landlord and was able to negotiate some cheaper rent,” Dinner said.
Dinner started a promotion in his Toronto neighbourhood to try to help local businesses. If you bring him a receipt that proves you shopped locally, he’ll give you $5 off your haircut. (Nick Purdon/CBC)
At that time in July, when Dinner first took over the lease, barbershops in the city of Toronto were still closed because of the pandemic.
Dinner says it cost him $22,000 and took 45 days of renovations to get the shop up and running.
“Me and my dad became best friends making this shop, and that’s one of the most beautiful things that ever happened in my life,” Dinner said.
Watch the feature about Andy Dinner’s buy-local initiative Sunday Nov. 1 on The National at 9 p.m. ET on CBC News Network and 10 p.m. local time on your CBC television station. You can also catch The National online on CBC Gem.
“Every single day I have people walking by and coming into the shop and saying thank you for putting something beautiful here. Thank you for putting something beautiful in our neighbourhood. And that brings a tear to my eye,” he said.
“This is what I wanted to do. I have wanted to have a store on this street forever.”
In places like Toronto and Peel Region, both areas under stricter provincial restrictions, that number is as high as 70 per cent. Restaurants and bars have been hit particularly hard.
Barbershop owner Andy Dinner describes how the pandemic has affected the businesses in his Toronto neighbourhood. 1:08
Dinner says he’s seen the devastation first hand. After work one day recently he was in his favourite neighbourhood bar when he witnessed the staff being told the place had to close because of restrictions related to COVID-19.
“I saw their posture, their body language, their demeanour. It was sad,” Dinner said.
“I said to myself, ‘I gotta do something about this.’ That’s when I came up with the idea. If you go to a local business, local restaurant, local bar, bring the receipt to my barbershop and I’ll give you five bucks off a haircut.”
Dinner announced his promotion on Instagram — and the idea took off.
“The number of bar owners and restaurant owners reaching out to me and expressing their gratitude has been really emotional, it’s been really overwhelming for me,” Dinner said.
Dinner talks with local restaurant owner Mike Yaworski outside his Double D pizza place. ‘My concern right now is making a living for my family … if this continues, I will probably have to close the restaurant,’ Yaworski said. (Nick Purdon/CBC)
At lunchtime he takes a walk up the street, his barber towel hanging from his back pocket like a flag. A block away Dinner meets Mike Yaworski outside his restaurant — Double D’s, specializing in Chicago-style deep dish pizza.
Yaworski greets Dinner with a pretend bow. “I mean, it’s cliche to say ‘support local,’ but you really are local, you are like the king of Lakeshore.”
Yaworski said COVID-19 has almost destroyed his business.
“Myconcern right now is making a living for my family,” he said. “I am married, I have a seven-year-old, and I have to pay the bills. And if this continues, I will probably have to close the restaurant.”
He says all the businesses in the neighbourhood are aware of Dinner’s idea and they love it.
“If you can drive a little bit of traffic here, and in return my customers can save $5 getting a haircut and drive traffic that way, oh man, it really helps.”
Mike Yaworski describes how Andy Dinner’s initiative to promote shopping at local businesses in the Toronto neighbourhood has helped keep his restaurant open during the pandemic. 1:06
Yaworski explains that it’s not just about the money, and tears fill his eyes.
“Sometimes I sit and I don’t get many orders, and it’s like maybe I got to call it quits. It’s kind of tough, man. It’s kind of tough. So he gives you hope, makes you wanna come to work, because sometimes you feel alone and nobody is caring. I can’t believe I am tearing up, but that’s the type of guy he is.”
Starved for good news
Dinner finishes trimming Dave Vanderstoep’s hair, checks the young man’s receipt, and gives him his discount.
Vanderstoep, 26, is a local tattoo artist.
“I think it [Dinner’s promotion] kind of reminds people that it’s not just individual shops here, it’s a neighbourhood,” he said.
As Andy Dinner cuts a customer’s hair at his Toronto barbershop, they discuss the shop’s efforts to help support other local businesses during the pandemic’s economic slowdown. 0:54
Dinner sweeps up and gets ready to shut the shop for the day.
He says he now understands why his small idea has had such a big impact in his neighbourhood.
“People need good news. The world is so starved right now for positivity, everything is so dark right now. We are going to get through this and we’re gonna come out stronger by little things like this. By doing our best.”
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
