Grocer Antonio Leto never imagined that he’d be managing an essential service during a global health pandemic, but that’s what he’s inadvertently been tasked with doing in keeping his customers, his staff and himself safe from COVID-19.
“Walking into the store never used to be so stressful,” admitted Leto, who manages a Metro outlet in Toronto. But now, “you’re kind of getting that feeling in your stomach even before you walk in.”
To ease those anxieties, Leto, like many grocers around the globe, has put in place a laundry list of measures to help prevent the spread of the virus.
“We wash every buggy before it’s used by any customer, we wash any basket before it’s used by any customer, we have a custodian throughout the day washing sections, we stop in between customers to wash the [checkout] belts,” said Leto.
His store has even gone so far as setting an alarm that goes off every 25 minutes to remind cashiers to wash their hands.
Staff at a Toronto Metro store disinfect grocery carts after customers use them. (Antonio Leto)
“Seeing the success and all the hard work and dedication of all the employees in the store and how they’re coming together and working for the community — I guess that is the satisfaction that gets us through the day,” said Leto.
‘Never been prouder’
Chris Karsisiotis, a store manager for Loblaws at their Maple Leaf Gardens location in downtown Toronto, can relate to that sense of pride.
“I’ve been a store manager for 11 years with this great company of ours, never expected anything like this, but I will say I am very proud. I’ve never been prouder to work for this company,” said Karsisiotis.
Chris Karsisiotis, manager of a Loblaws in Toronto, is asking customers to touch only what they intend to buy, shop alone and respect social distancing while in the store. (Submitted by Chris Karsisiotis)
His store has put Plexiglas in front of cashiers and they’ve placed decals six feet apart on the floor to promote social distancing. They’ve also put directional arrows up and down the aisles to show customers the safest flow of traffic.
There’s some customers that are co-operating. Some aren’t.– Chris Karsisiotis, Loblaws store manager
Just how successful these measures will be in preventing the spread of the virus really depends on how customers choose to behave in the store, said Karsisiotis.
He and his staff are constantly educating shoppers on how they should act.
“There are some customers that are co-operating. Some aren’t. But when you start to tell them the reason why we’re doing this, for their safety, people start to understand,” he said.
Karsisiotis said he hopes that by asking customers to physically distance, touch only what they intend to buy, have only one person per household do the shopping and throw disposable gloves in the garbage and not on the pavement, all shoppers will begin to take these actions to keep everyone safe.
Leto said some of the shoppers at his Metro location are not taking the measures seriously.
“Customers are not getting what is going on with COVID-19,” he said.
For example, he still sees some regular customers who live close by shopping once a day, something public health officials have advised against doing to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus.
Leto also said he constantly has to remind customers that “the goal is to shop alone.”
Asking for understanding
Kristy Farrell, who manages a Sobeys store in Saskatoon, said she would like to see more understanding from customers when they see an empty shelf.
Sobeys manager Kristy Farrell stands beside a sign an anonymous customer taped to the window of her Saskatoon store. (Submitted by Kristy Farrell)
“We’re doing double time to make sure that they have what they need when they come to all of our stores,” she said.
Farrell emphasized that “the effort that we’re making to try and secure” products is something that “the customer doesn’t necessarily see backstage.”
The majority of her customers, she said, are respectful and even express their thanks.
Farrell was pleasantly surprised when she arrived at work early on in the pandemic and saw a sign taped to her store by a customer that read “You Are Heroes.”
“Things like that make it well worth the effort for my [employees] when they can see that the work they’re doing is totally appreciated by our community.”
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
