SUNDRE - The owner of Cedar’s Pub and Original T’s family restaurant said he had little choice but to lay off 26 employees as the pandemic’s impact causes substantial financial hardship.
“I had to lay every single one of them off,” said Chris Vardas.
“I shut down the pub and I just kept the restaurant open for takeout and delivery,” said Vardas, adding he’s been running the kitchen with help from his father Perry and younger brother Nick.
He closed the restaurant for dine-in, much like many others did, prior to the provincial government's March 27 directive to do so. He closed the restaurant to dine-in service effective March 22.
“I hung on as long as I could. It was starting to financially ruin me. It wasn’t feasible for me to stay open because I was dipping into pockets I couldn’t afford.”
His main concern is what the future holds for Sundre’s small business community.
“We might not be able to make it up again. Because the start-up costs for us will be astronomical,” he said, adding bills continue to come in while revenues dry up.
“Between my two places, I’m going to need about $75,000 just to get jump-started on product to bring it up just so I can open my doors again. Every day that goes by that we can’t open, hurts us more and more and the cost gets greater and greater.”
Giving credit to both the provincial and federal governments, Vardas said officials seem to be stepping up to the plate, and is pleased to see the deferral programs.
“They’re doing the best they can in the situation we’re all in,” he said.
But he worries the promises could be smoke and mirrors.
“It’s all about accessibility. How accessible will it be in the end? They’re saying, ‘We’re going to give you all this and that,’ and then when we go to apply, there’s so many restrictions that we can’t even get it anyways,” he said.
And even if a deferral program is approved, “at the end of the day, that money’s got to get paid. If you’re not making (revenue), it doesn’t matter how long they defer it, you can’t pay it.”
Despite the difficult situation, Vardas maintains a positive outlook and perhaps even a new perspective on life. These days, he has more time to bond with his family.
“That’s the one thing. In my business, I’m always away,” he said.
“So for me to actually sit back and spend time with my family and help them with their schooling is great, and catch up on things I haven’t done around the house.”
After his son completes some schoolwork, they take a break to play some street hockey.
“It’s like a little reward,” he said, grateful for the additional time with his kids.
He’s also confident that given time, the dust will settle.
“The safe distancing is going to get us through everything. Everybody’s got to just hang tight and believe. We’ll fight through it. We’re a resilient little town. We’re all going through it, not just one or two people. We just got to do it together,” he said.
But things likely won’t ever be the same, and there will be a new normal once the pandemic passes, he said.
“What everybody’s got to understand and remember, I think, after this pandemic is over, is the landscaping of business and life will change.”
With some of the stories coming out of cities, where big box grocery stores have experienced huge rushes of customers and certain product shortages, Vardas seemed glad to be in a small, close-knit community.
“We are very blessed to live in this town,” he said.
“Doesn’t matter what strikes us — we all find a way to get through it.”
The entire experience might even end up bringing people a bit closer together and appreciate one another more, he said.
Sometimes, people tend to forget what life is all about, he added.
“This will actually make us stronger. You realize the importance of family time, because we all forget that stuff. We forget about what friendship really is sometimes because we’re all caught up in the rat race of life. This kind of brings us all together,” he said.
“We’re not invincible, we all need each other.”
In the meantime, he’s been taking the opportunity to restructure a bit, including conducting a review of his menus.
“You got to do some work. You got to make a positive out of it. In a funny way, it’ll work out in the end.”
On March 24, he announced he is now accepting e-transfers.
Customers can now call in their order and pay over the phone with a credit card or e-transfer. Once payment is received the order will be processed and can be delivered to the customer's doorstep.
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