A local business sees increase in sales during COVID-19

The owner of a small business in Oromocto is overwhelmed with the amount of support she has received this year after being hit with a pandemic.

Kim Munn opened the doors to The Oromocto Galleria seven years ago with the intention of supporting other small businesses.

“I wanted to give like-minded people, crafters, artisans etc. a venue to showcase their locally handcrafted items without having to be onsite and work in the store,” said Munn. “So many talented people rely on craft shows and markets but did not have a place where they could showcase their talents.”

Munn says the business was very slow when she first opened.

“I questioned my decision time and time again but here we are seven years later, a lot of hard work, but it has paid off.”

The Oromocto Galleria sells locally handcrafted items for over 100 local artists, as well as two lines of Canadian made décor paint, Fusion Mineral Paint and Mango chalk paint.

Munn also hosts two to three workshops a week, where she teaches people how to paint and craft with the two paint lines she sells.

When Covid-19 hit New Brunswick, Munn was concerned about her little gift shop.

“I was very worried. I quickly met with one of my makers who supply us with a lot of our workshop supplies, we came up with a variety of projects, DIY Kits, that clients could take home and paint with minimal instructions.”

Munn said these kits helped out people in the community since we were all on lockdown. She noticed an increase in paint sales as well.

“With everyone being home, a lot of people started redoing their furniture, our paint sales quickly increased beyond anything we would have expected.”

Each kit comes with two paintbrushes, two paint colours and a décor to paint.

The Galleria had to shut down to the public for 12 weeks on March 11.

During this time, the shop was offering curbside pick-up and delivery.

“The response to the curbside pick-up and delivery was phenomenal. People quickly became incredibly supportive of small locally owned businesses like The Galleria.”

Munn says business has been incredible during the pandemic, she is seeing a huge increase in sales and support.

“People have quickly become very aware of the importance of supporting small local businesses.”

The Galleria opened back up on June 1 with new precautions.

Only six people are allowed in the shop at a time and six baskets are placed at the front of the store for customers to grab to help keep track of how many are inside.

“We do sometimes have a line-up of clients waiting to come in, but people don’t seem to mind waiting a few minutes,” said Munn. “When the weather is not so great, we bring out umbrellas and always pop out to see if we can help while they wait.”

There is hand sanitizer throughout the shop, floor markers for direction, and masks are mandatory.

The workshops are still cancelled during this time, but Munn is hoping that will change soon, in the meantime the DIY kits are still an option.

The Galleria is still offering curbside pick-up and delivery.

“We have many clients that are not comfortable going into shops any more than necessary therefore we are happy to continue offering this service.”

Munn says things are running smoothly and she is grateful for the support so far.

“My clients have been incredibly loyal, everyone is trying so hard to support small local businesses and it is really showing, we are so very thankful for the support we are receiving.”