When it comes to business there are good years, bad years and then there are the years in between.
For Oliver’s business owners 2013 was a mixed bag – some owners chose to purchase new retail space and put down permanent roots, while others, like Dawn Reid, considered closing their doors for good.
Reid, who has operated the Firehall Bistro with her husband Bill for the past five years (leasing the space from a local entrepreneur), says despite busy summers and a steady off season, the cost of keeping the doors open for another year is just too high.
“The overhead on this place is starting to hurt. The taxes are high. We’re busy, but the foot traffic, and the amount of time we’re spending running the restaurant, and away from our kids, doesn’t quite offset our costs right now.”
Reid said when their lease expires in August they will likely close the restaurant but will be sad to say goodbye to it.
“We’ve had a lot of support and I think we will be missed. We’ll miss it. We would really love to hang in there because I think this town will boom again, at least that’s what I’m hoping for.”
Natasha Martin has managed Grapevine Optical since the shop opened in Oliver five years ago, and despite the high cost of lenses and frames, her clientele has not only increased, it has diversified.
“We have no reason to leave Oliver. The town and the residents have been extremely supportive. We’re actually getting customers coming to us from Osoyoos and Penticton now.” Martin continued that the store’s owner, who is based out of Langley, plans to move the business from its current spot he has been renting and purchase the former Remedy Rx building on Main Street.
Martin said her main challenge has been competing with online prices.
Rick Stagg, owner/operator of Okanagan Event Rentals and Oliver Rental Centre, said he shares Reid’s sentiment. He moved his show room to Osoyoos in December citing a changing customer base and “unreasonable” property taxes as mitigating factors in his decision to relocate part of his business.
Restaurant owner Savis Gavriilidis said he doesn’t plan on leaving Oliver anytime soon, but he does close down during the leaner months to maintain cost efficiency. He lists rising food costs as one of his biggest challenges, but said he does his best to keep his food affordable and hasn’t raised his prices since 2011.
Gavriilidis said the other major challenge he feels facing Oliver’s business owners is far more complex.
“If it weren’t for the boost we get from the tourists during the summer I don’t think a lot of restaurants would be able to stay open. It’s hard to believe when I think about what it was like when I first came here in 1997. It was booming.”
Gavriilidis said despite the roller coaster of strong growth experienced by small businesses in Oliver, and across Canada during the late 1990s and 2000s, the proliferation of the 2008/09 global economic downturn hit Oliver hard, and he doesn’t feel it’s been able to recover.
“The plant closures made a big difference. It changed a lot. What’s sad is that Oliver has something to offer people. We just need a break. We need a chance to show people what we can do.”
Gavriilidis feels the advent of the South Okanagan correctional facility, more specifically, the 240 jobs that are expected to come with it, may be the key to Oliver’s rebirth.
Monica Nemes believes bringing more families to Oliver will help turn things around.
“I think Oliver is a great town and I’ve loved running a business here, but in terms of industry I think we need to be able to sustain families and I think a lot of us are banking on the jobs that are supposed to come with the correctional facility. We need those jobs. We need people working here and staying here.”
Nemes has owned and operated Innervisions since 1986 and will admit the recession years were tough, but her business has been steady. She said the trick is to keep evolving. And she may be on to something.
Maureen Doerr opened Beyond Bliss five years ago and said during her tenure she has also had to make some adjustments. She noted that introducing new products and services has kept her going.
Diane Jones has owned and operated the Oliver Bakery with her husband Wayne for nearly eight years. The couple said leaner years after the recession and rising operating costs caused them to “sharpen their pencils” a bit, but they’ve managed to find a balance by closing on Sundays and Mondays.
“There have been challenges over the years,” said Jones. “The cost of gas, electricity and food have gone up. And wages have gone up. So I can see why some businesses are struggling. We’ve been fortunate enough to stay pretty steady but it’s definitely tough. I think there’s something to be said for the businesses that have been able to stay open through the recessions, especially in a smaller town – I think we have a harder time recovering,”
The couple said they briefly considered selling their building and put it up for sale last March, but decided to take it off the market in December and cut back their hours instead.
The Jones’s said they are also hoping the expected influx of jobs and new families will breathe new life into Oliver.
“There have been bits and pieces here and there but I think it’s become fairly stagnant around here. We need one big project to get us going again. Something needs to restart us.”
Erin Christie
Oliver Chronicle
