Many garden centres have been experiencing an increase in business as residents look for ways to keep busy at home.

Gardening is therapeutic for many residents and has been an outlet for them in getting through the pandemic while others are looking to begin growing their own food.

Red Barn Mercantile in Okotoks has been seeing a rise in the amount of customers and has been selling large amounts of soil and seed starting kits.

Karin MaCoun, Owner of Red Barn Mercantile, says the bump in business has lead to some hiccups with supply.

"There seems to be front-end-loaded type of purchasing here. as soon as everybody got out of the house everybody got excited about that and purchased quite quickly and then supply was down on my end and my suppliers end. It's been difficult for me to find certain things. I've got a good supply right now but I might not be able to get a whole lot more... I think a lot of other garden centres are running into that as well."

A number of measures have been put in place at the green house in accordance to Alberta Health Services' guidelines. This includes reducing the amount of customers physically allowed on the premises, having hand sanitizer available, offering curbside pick-up and deliveries, and arrows and physical distancing signage in place.

MaCoun says the culture around supporting local in the current economic climate due to COVID-19 has assisted with the increase in new customers.

"We've been open for 10 years and I've got so many new faces and people who haven't even been here before and they like the casual experience, a little more personal and a little more friendly, and that's what Okotoks is all about. That's why we're here and people in Okotoks support local businesses really well so it's really nice to see during this time."

 

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