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To improve fairness for small retailers and ensure greater physical distancing for Christmas shoppers, CFIB proposes the Manitoba Government adopt a "Small Business First" COVID retail strategy.
In addition to the current rules for critical services, CFIB proposes non-essential retail businesses be allowed to open to instore sales, but with very limited capacity for customers and public-facing staff.
This would limit customers to three per store for a fixed time for personalized shopping. A store would be limited to three public-facing staff to help customers shop as efficiently as possible from a safe distance.
Limiting a store to a maximum of 6 people (3 staff, 3 customers) would allow most independent retailers to salvage some of the critical Christmas shopping season.
It would also help ensure greater physical distancing than current rules, as customers would able to visit thousands of independent retailers in their neighbourhoods with very few other customers - and not be forced to line up at big box stores to buy toys, TVs and sweaters.
CFIB believes this would help ensure (a) retailers of criticial products can continue to operate as they are now (b) small retailers of non-essential products are given a chance to survive and (c) consumers have more options to physically distance at small retailers.
