Mainly Manitoba to shut its Wasagaming store for upcoming summer

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This article was published 22/01/2024 (1005 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of Mainly Manitoba, a gift store that ceased operations at Shoppers Mall on December 31, 2023, has made the difficult decision not to operate at its Wasagaming location this summer.

The closure was triggered by a sharp decline in foot traffic since August 2023, after it was hit hard by disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, says its owner, who also pointed to competition with large foreign companies as a challenge.

The owner Amy Dalman told the Sun she took the decision not to operate this summer due to the need to focus on recovering both financially and mentally from this challenging experience.

“We started the Wasagaming store in 2019 as our first full-size store and larger than our latest Brandon location,” she told the Sun. “We are devastated, defeated, gutted and have let our landlords know that we will not be operating this summer.”

Dalman and her team sought guidance from the Investment and Trade Division within the Department of Economic Development, Investment, Trade, and Natural Resources. A virtual meeting took place on Dec. 4, during which the Mainly Manitoba team explained their situation and presented suggestions to address their financial struggles. Subsequently, a written summary was provided via email, as requested by the officials.

Despite these efforts, the response received from the Investment and Trade Division, she said, was disheartening.

The Division, Dalman said, stated, “Unfortunately, there aren’t any government programs that would support this business at this time.”

To garner additional support, the business also reached out to Westman Regional Cabinet Office outreach coordinator Jason Gobeil. While Gobeil offered his support, the efforts did not result in the desired outcome.

When she mentioned that her team hadn’t received any significant response from the Investment and Trade Division, Gobeil reached out to them and they provided the following response “I can confirm that the Business Navigation unit of the division met with Amy and Dean, her husband, on Dec. 4, and they discussed the situation. Unfortunately, there aren’t any government programs that would support this business at this time.”

Mainly Manitoba’s team, according to Dalman, felt disregarded or not considered important enough to receive a direct response from the Investment and Trade Division. “We are devastated, defeated and gutted,” she said.

The Sun reached out to Gobeil and the Business Navigation Unit of the Investment and Trade Division for comment by email but didn’t receive responses.

The closure of Mainly Manitoba, she said, serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges faced by small businesses, especially in the current economic climate.

She underscored the predicament faced by small businesses competing against large foreign-owned enterprises with lower-priced goods, often sourced from overseas with ambiguous labour practices.

“I generated $180,000 between 2019 and now in retail sales tax for the Manitoba government, by selling, by operating my business,” she said. “That money could be put back into these small businesses in support so that they can keep going, because if I close they’re not getting that revenue anyway.”

Dalman said operating costs in Manitoba are a major deterrent to business viability.

» aodutola@brandonsun.com

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