The strong appeals from politicians to stimulate local purchasing seem to have disappeared from the public space, deplore local entrepreneurs, who have the impression of living a real “wake-up day”. After experiencing strong growth, many face a decline in their sales, so much so that some even resign themselves to going out of business.
And the waltz of closures has already begun. “With COVID, people have let off steam a little bit in purchasing products online. It was incredible,” recalls Marina Dubois, owner of the company Inédit du Nord, whose boutiques sell home accessories, jewelry and clothing made in Quebec.
“When you’ve been through all that and come back to reality, you fall from above. »
And reality had the effect of a cold shower for Ms. Dubois who made the tough decision to end her activities within the next few weeks. “I think the buy-local craze has really waned. It was too much. I think people got tired of it. [Politicians] don’t talk about it at all anymore,” she said, adding that she now feels “abandoned.”
For the record, Marina Dubois opened her first store in Sainte-Thérèse in 2018. When the pandemic hit Quebec in spring 2020, sales at Inédit du Nord experienced meteoric growth. In April of that year, Dubois recorded triple the sales generated in December, normally her most lucrative period.
“We’ve had incredible growth,” she emphasizes. Result: the businesswoman made what she now describes as “great decisions”. “I had the idea of opening several stores in Quebec. We say that, in the worst case scenario, sales will stabilize. There could be a small decrease, but we will be correct. »
She therefore opened a second store in Saint-Sauveur, then a third with an area of 4,000 square feet in Blainville, which will also become her head office. By her own admission, with this third opening, she signed her death warrant.
So, a year ago, she closed her boutique in Sainte-Thérèse. Now she must resolve to completely put an end to her activities.
And she’s not the only one. Juliet
This loss of steam for local purchasing, Marie Beaupré, co-founder of Mauvaises Herbes, as well as some 300 local entrepreneurs saw it coming. In May 2022, they signed an open letter in which they affirmed that local purchasing was in danger. “At the start of the pandemic, SMEs welcomed the mobilization to encourage local purchasing, in particular through campaigns such as that of the infamous Blue Basket,” they wrote. However, this desire to promote locavorism is slowly dying out at the end of the pandemic and the beginning of the economic crisis. »
“We’ve been saying for a while that something is happening post-pandemic,” adds Ms. Beaupré, on the line. We have plenty of fellow entrepreneurs who are ending their activities or closing a branch. »
Ms. Beaupré’s company, which specializes in the preparation and sale of natural body and household care products, is still alive. But she and her team were forced to make difficult decisions.
They had to put aside certain eco-responsible values to survive. “Some of our ingredients were in glass bottles, now we changed to plastic. We ditched some of our compostable bags for recyclable bags. »
The company, whose store is located on Plaza Saint-Hubert in Montreal, has also made job cuts. We even thought about getting rid of the workshop which seemed to have become too big.
And like several other SMEs, Les Mauvaises Herbes received assistance from the federal government under the Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA). They all have until December 31 to pay two-thirds of the loan, if they want to keep the financial aid for the last third. After this date, they will have two years to repay the entire amount, with interest.
According to a report released in June by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), 4 out of 10 businesses “are at risk of not being able to repay their CEBA loan by the end of 2023 and losing the grant portion. According to CFIB projections, the situation could result in the closure of a quarter of a million businesses in 2024.”
“In the end, maybe it wasn’t that helpful, all the messages about local business. It generated artificial growth. It forced us to grow much too quickly. »
“We understand that at the moment, the context is difficult for consumers,” she admits. But what will it take? I have the impression that no one sees the urgency. It is the Quebec entrepreneurial landscape that is at stake at the moment. »
