Closures a sad 5th wave for Saskatoon businesses

Local businesses are facing a fifth wave. It’s been a long haul for us all and January is never a friend to retail, but the exhaustion has never been more clear to me than in this past week in which three well-established, locally-owned Saskatoon restaurants have announced they are shutting down.

Seoul Korean has been a fixture in Riversdale for the past 11 years, introducing Saskatoon to now-well-known ingredients like gochujang and kimchi. Their closure letter was filled with appreciation and a humble understanding of their importance in heralding Korean culture into the city.

Leyda’s, who had already cut their hours of service, will be closing at the end of this month, at least in their current incarnation. The announcement on Instagram suggests they will carry on in other ways: “We would like to take time to reshape and reflect on what Leyda’s will look like moving forward during these challenging times.” And you might be relieved to know that their locally-beloved bread will still be available at Dad’s Organic Market, Little Market Box, and Herbs & Health.

And Gud Eats, one of my family’s go-to takeout destinations, recently closed its doors in Regina and will be closing their Saskatoon location at the end of January. This vegan, flavour-forward restaurant was unapologetically comfort food and y’all, I needed that comfort. The tacos, the sammies, those drummies… Gud managed to put a smile on my face in some of the weirdest, most distant days.  

Yesterday, my daughter stayed home from school for a mental health day.

We are all feeling it.

And no matter how many times we say “I’m over COVID” or “I’m so done with this”, we know in our hearts that we’re not yet over it & not yet done.

The time to rally, to support one another, is ongoing. It can look daunting or exhausting but you know that expression, many hands make light work? That’s what I’m going to focus on. No one expects you to skip every fast-food-chain fix you’re craving but everyone can help a little. Just do what you can do. Whether that means choosing to dine local when you next go out, ordering dinner in an extra time per month, or the cost-free ways of supporting small businesses like sharing about them (the Local Love Shopping Guide page is a great resource to discover and converse) and leaving reviews, we’ve got this YXE.

Supporting our city’s locally-owned businesses (I’m focusing on restaurants here but of course it extends to any business) feeds our culture and keeps every dollar right here in our own economy. I welcome you to share your favourite locally-owned restaurants so that you might inspire another reader to try something new. And I also welcome you to share this post or to make one of your own.

xo  M

p.s. Being a blogger and influencer is my own small business & I would love to have your support. If you’re on Instagram, please follow me there :)