Christina Devine, ByWard Market BIA
Throughout the summer, the ByWard Market welcomed a steady flow of visitors as the majority of shops, services, restaurants and grocers reopened following COVID safety guidelines and procedures. Offering reduced hours, shopping by appointment only and booking reservations at restaurants in advance, our visitors have been half locals and half local tourism from neighbouring cities including Montreal and Toronto.
There has been a trend of less people visiting the ByWard Market during the week due to closed government offices and universities only reopening now. Weekends remain the busiest time. At the OTTAWA sign/ByWard Market BIA info kiosk, visitor numbers are down by 60% taking into account our reduced hours of operations on site. Fewer people are engaging in ByWard patios and indoor restaurant seating especially during the daytime as locals adapt to the new normal.
Despite reduced traffic, businesses have continued to prove their resilience in leveraging online platforms including online food orders and delivery, online shopping/shipping, virtual events and music performances, leveraged with collaboration between businesses for efficiency and customer convenience.
ByWard Market BIA has been working with businesses since initial closures to help improve our community’s digital presence and support business owners to ‘pivot’ by including and adding online sales via the effective provincial program Digital Main Street. With recent approval of additional funding to continue this vital program, we will continue supporting ByWard Market businesses to improve their online visibility, engaging community residents and local tourists to shop local and continue supporting our local economy.
Overall, ByWard Market business owners have been optimistic as we all settle into the new normal following COVID safety regulations. A few staple restaurants in the ByWard Market announced permanent closures over the summer and we anticipate more businesses to change models and pivot their business models later this year due to COVID impact.
The City of Ottawa has been very supportive in facilitating innovative and timely solutions for businesses. Road closures in the ByWard Market are effective until October 31, 2020 for extended patio space to ensure safe social distancing. Local BIAs are working closely with the City to extend patio season with heating in place, addressing fire regulations for tight spaces and snow removal.
We are continually supporting businesses following public health guidelines to ensure the safety of staff and customers within the ByWard Market. Alongside the ByWard Market farmers’ market open 7 days a week for customer convenience, we encourage Ottawa residents to engage in our fall activations including our 5th annual ByWard Barket with 45 participating dog-friendly businesses, ByWard Market interactive art walk highlighting urban art and public art installations and Octoberfest: Oct. 16-18, 2020. For information on ByWard Market fall activations, visit our website: byward-market.com and follow ByWard Market BIA on social media.