Sept. 22 marks the official start of fall in Haliburton County – something that is hard to fathom as the summer weather continues.
The seven-day forecast features plenty of warm temperatures and sunshine.
It’s a good thing since cottagers, and visitors, will be here in droves to squeeze in more time at the cottage, or attend events such as this weekend’s Hike Haliburton festival, which actually kicks off today.
For area businesses, it is also another opportunity to boost summer revenue in what we are being told has been a mixed season.
Unless you talk to every business in Haliburton County, you do not get a true picture of how summer 2024 has been from an economic perspective.
We talked to just three business owners for today’s story; one said business was slightly down from last year, another slightly up, and one honestly reported it had not been a great season.
Overall, we get the impression it has been an ‘okay’ summer on average. Some have done very well. Others have done very poorly.
Much of it is out of their control.
The Bank of Canada, after keeping its key policy rate at five per cent, a more than two-decade high, for a year, has trimmed it by a quarter point three times in a row since June, bringing it down by 75 basis points to 4.25 per cent earlier this month.
I know from talking to my friends with mortgages – especially variable mortgages – that this has allowed them to stretch the purse strings a little more.
The overall cost of living is undoubtedly a factor. One need only visit a local grocery store to see this.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re told many factors have impacted prices at the grocery store, such as supply chain disruptions, labour shortages, changes in consumer purchasing patterns, poor weather in some growing regions, tariffs, higher input costs, and higher wages.
Consider your own household budget. Now consider local businesses. They too have seen the cost of living go up substantially; they are paying higher mortgage rates or rents. Their utilities have also increased. They are shelling out more in minimum wage. For them, an okay summer is, quite frankly, not good enough.
Traditionally, Highlands businesses have lined their pockets in summer in hopes of surviving long winters. That has become much harder in recent years. Some have done a great job of ensuring they continue to make money in the shoulder seasons, so there is less pressure on the precious summer months.
We know consumers are making difficult choices. We know some of us, our friends, families and neighbours, are going to Bancroft, Bracebridge and Lindsay to do their grocery shopping. We know some of us, our friends, family and neighbours are turning to online shopping.
But on a Tuesday farmers market day in Haliburton Sept. 17, as patrons left the park and headed downtown to businesses such as Castle Antiques, we still hold out hope that people will spend some of their hard-earned money at local stores, even if it might mean paying a little bit more. After all, our economic lives depend on it.
