Regina business owners call on landlord for help

As the Canadian economy continues bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, some local business owners are still coming to terms with the impact the virus has had in Regina.

Nadine and Willie Newton felt its impact firsthand this past week: They made the tough decision on Monday to close both of their Orangetheory Fitness gyms. With little prospect of generating alternative cash flow, they had to lay off all 25 employees.

“It’s still really, extraordinarily hard, that we had to lay off …” Nadine said through tears. “I didn’t intend on this happening.

“I’m affecting their life long term. No matter which way you paint it, they might not be able to pay their mortgages, based on the fact that I cannot provide a revenue stream for them.”

She and Willie stressed that in their industry, people need to be in the building using their services to make money.

“The position that we’re in, we cannot be creative (with making money). We are tied to the direct revenue that comes in from our members, but we took that away and eliminated that on Monday.

“We froze all of our members’ memberships; they are not paying us anything, effective March 16. We will not see any revenue until we are able to open our doors again,” Nadine said.

The couple said they took that step to reduce the chances of people gathering in close quarters and potentially spread the novel Coronavirus.

“We want to flatten the curve at the end of the day, and be proactive.”

One of their two gyms is in the same block of buildings as Nico Lady + Baby and Indigo, in Regina’s south end.

Now, the Newtons and their fellow tenants at Nico Lady + Baby, Nicole and Nicolette Hunter, are fearing how they’ll pay rent to their landlord on April 1.

As of Saturday afternoon, their landlord, Strathallen Property Management Inc., hadn’t offered rent relief or rent payment deferral to either business.

A letter from Strathallen dated March 18 states, “all parties should remain focused on business continuity, while protecting the health and well being (sic) of all fellow Canadians including our respective employees, customers and stakeholders.”

The company says in the letter “at this early stage of the pandemic” it will “not accommodate any request to amend lease financial terms including requests specifically relating to the abatement or deferral of rental payments.”

“Our landlord knew we were shutting our doors on Monday (March 16). You can see on the letter … that they acted as if they knew nothing was going to happen,” Nadine said.

She and the Hunters said they received the letter from Strathallen at 4:55 p.m. on March 18.

The Hunters, who closed shop on Friday, said they pay $8,000 per month in rent.

On Friday, the provincial government did announce a financial aid package to help businesses and individuals affected by COVID-19. It doesn’t have money or terms earmarked for rent or lease payments.

Nicolette Hunter repeated the tenants’ call to the landlord for financial relief on rent.

“We are hoping that commercial landlords across the province will see this as a long-term investment in their own businesses too, because ultimately if you don’t give your tenants the support they need, they’re not going to be here when this (the pandemic) is done,” she said.