VICTORIA -- While many businesses are getting crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic, some are actually booming, especially those that provide products through delivery.
Kane Adams works at Victoria Landscape Gravel Mart and says their phones are ringing off the hook.
“Everyone is stuck at home so they want to work in their yards,” he says. “It’s low-contact with other people."
Adams says this past weekend was the busiest he’s ever seen. “I’ve been there for probably 15 years and I’ve never seen it that busy.”
With restaurants told to close except for take-out and delivery orders, those services are busy. Businesses like local brewery Phillips Brewing are being enterprising by offering delivery or service to your car.
University of Victoria business professor Mark Colgate says it’s no surprise that certain types of companies are thriving
“Because people are stuck at home with time on their hands, you know gardening companies, delivery companies, they are great examples,” Colgate says.
GardenWorks nursery says its decision to stop in-store purchases has hit its bottom line hard during prime gardening season. But it’s making the best of things by offering curbside pickup.
Scott Pearce with GardenWorks says residents are likelier to plant their own crops now more than ever.
“I think that’s what people are thinking," Pearce says. "If they can take the pressure off by growing a little of their own on veggies, they’d be happy. That’s definitely a very rewarding process.”
