Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Midway through Cortes Island’s second Spring of the pandemic, more people are buying locally, but government restrictions and Quadra Island’s negative messaging have an impact.
Bill Dougan reported that, at the Gorge Harbour general store, “Up until the beginning of May, it was up quite substantially over last year. We’re seeing new people and a lot of local islanders who maybe were gone during the winter in normal winters, but are still here. We’re seeing a lot more people from Mansons Landing down at this end, I’m not really sure why. A bit of both: new people and people who usually go away during the winter.”
Eric Hargrave from the Cortes Natural Food Co-op emailed that “We do have more local customers; people are staying on the island more for their shopping, and we expect that to continue. However, we’re still seeing plenty of visitors on the weekends especially. People are still coming to the island – whether they’re looking for a new home, considering their retirement here, or just relaxing at the beach – I don’t know, but they are coming.
He reports that a year before the Pandemic, in April 2019, the Co-op’s sales were $140,000. They rose to $182,000 in April 2020, the height of the pandemic run on food. Sales for April 2021 were not much less than last year: $177,000.
Curt Cunningham said sales at the Squirrel Cove General Store have been steady.
“Local traffic is up, slightly, not a lot from before the virus and, of course, tourism traffic is way, way down. We’ve had very few tourists and a couple of boaters.”
Dougan says that, with sales being substantially higher, he is also ordering more stock. Yet, aside from a few tricky items, there has not been any problem keeping up.
Hargrave wrote, “Instead of making big orders in the store for bulk quantities like last year, people have gone back to more regular shopping. However, because the restaurant business is so limited now, people are looking for new foods to try and are still buying more on every trip. After a couple years at these levels, we expect them to become our new baseline for the future.”
Take-out has become a big treat for many Cortesians.
As of Wednesday, May 5th, the Floathouse restaurant is open five days a week, from one to 8:30.
The Sunflower Food Truck will be reopening at its new location by the Gorge Harbour store this Friday, from 8 AM to 1 PM and it will be open 5 days a week after the long weekend.
They have a full breakfast and lunch menu plus lots of home baked goods like Cinnamon Buns, Muffins, Cookies, and a local favourite: sausage rolls.
When I interviewed Carie Taylor a couple of months ago, she reported they were selling more than 30 sausage rolls a day through the Gorge Harbour store.
Sujon is now calling the Toki Bap Cafe Toki to go. Order from the menu on the Tideline, and select the pick up time by Thursday 4pm by email toki8cafe@gmail.com or phone 250-935-6665 or text 250-201-5421. Pick up Friday 12-5:30.
The Co-op cafe is now a deli and has been slowly building sales again since the beginning of this year.
The Cortes Market Deli and Coffee Bar is open during store hours, with strict COVID protocols in place. They offer sandwiches, a variety of sweet and savoury goodies, plus Tim Horton Coffee to go.
There have also been challenges.
Eric Hargrave reports “There is an acute shortage of working people this year.
On April 23rd, the province announced it is prohibiting non-essential traffic between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
Quadra Island is asking visitors to stay away.
