A Kelowna company CEO and founder seeks more support from Orchard Park Mall while trying to meet the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic.
In September, Julie Michaud received the BDC Woman of the Year Award from Kelowna Women in Business for her work helping other like-minded brand owners get their products to store shelves and thrive in the world of health and beauty.
Through her skin care and makeup retailer Portia-Ella, Michaud has launched a “Business Incubator” program that provides management, mentoring and shelf space for other women in the industry who focus on clean, waste-free beauty be able to take off.
But while Michaud has a strong track record of helping others, she believes Orchard Park Mall has not returned the favor as their business in the mall faces challenges caused by the pandemic.
On the morning of October 25, a Portia Ella Michaud employee called 10 minutes before the store’s normal opening time at 10 a.m. and said she was having a panic attack. With no other staff available to open the store, Michaud was forced to pick up her three young children, including a newborn, take them to work, and represent their employee. However, she didn’t arrive at the mall until noon. Despite the circumstances, Portia Ella was fined for not opening on time.
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According to Michaud, Orchard Park Mall recently increased the fine from $ 50 to $ 150 for not opening on time, despite new challenges such as staff shortages and illness appearing every day that would make it harder for businesses to get to what was agreed Times to work.
“My concern is not the amount, but that they (the fine) were tripled,” Michaud said.
“Even as a small company, it is so difficult to inspire and delight our customers. Not being able to open in time hurts us and on top of that we are fined. I just feel like it’s coming from all sides. The mall is able to help and be a little more flexible and actually work with us. I worked with two month old kids wrapped around me and the mall actually told me personally that I had to do it like if I just had one baby it wasn’t their problem. “
When the mall reopened after the initial outbreak, many of its retailers saw operations differently, with some remaining closed and others open for a shorter period of time due to a lack of staff and pedestrian traffic. But when the number of cases fell and customers returned to the mall, the policy was reset and stores were again forced to remain open for the mall’s opening hours.
“For example, if someone in a store has a fever, the whole team is done,” says Michaud. “So with constraints like these, it’s extremely difficult for a small business to fulfill our contract that says we have to be open when the mall is open. These are unforeseen circumstances. “
According to Donna Markin, General Manager of Orchard Park Mall, the landlord will not impose a fine on a company in an emergency for supporting their businesses during these unprecedented times. “Customers expect stores to be open when they visit the mall. It’s a modest expectation, but we take it seriously, ”said Markin.
“While the landlord manages the entire mall, the stores are responsible for managing their businesses. If there is an emergency in a shop, for example an employee calls in sick and makes it impossible to open the shop, we would be advised by the tenant that he has to close, ”she said.
“This action has no consequences. Part of community safety is making sure employees don’t come to work sick – this is the public health policy and we encourage our companies to take it seriously. “
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However, Michaud claimed that she was not given an opportunity to explain that she had a sick employee before the company was fined.
Markin replied that she couldn’t comment on matters affecting individual retailers at the mall, adding that she thought she was doing her best to support their stores during the pandemic.
“As with anyone and any business, we are new to managing a pandemic environment,” said Markin.
Michaud believes the mall and other tenants will have to work closely together to weather the pandemic.
“It’s extremely difficult to find staff, and it’s not like there are huge queues in retail because it can be dangerous.
“At the moment we have three vacancies. It is currently very difficult to find the right people who are comfortable enough to work in public spaces, something has to give way. Small business support is more important than ever and we need community support, including other tenants in the mall. “
Daniel Taylor
Reporter, Kelowna Capital News
City of Kelowna
