Dear Kensington Business Members,
Breaking News - Advocacy Win for BRZ's - Premier Kenney announced today an up-to-$5000 re-launch grant for small and medium sized businesses as well as a ban on evictions by landlords who don’t take advantage of the rent subsidy – similar to BC. Details to follow… The Kensington BRZ co-wrote a letter to the province on behalf of all Alberta BRZs/BIAs advocating for these two measures to help small businesses. See news release here.
One-on-one Alberta Health Services Questions Link - We are another week closer to the proposed Phase 2 re-opening on June 19 (although that date may change). For those of you who may have questions for AHS here is a link where businesses can ask one on one questions about health and safety protocols.
Tattoo Parlours - Good news for Tattoo parlours. You are included in phase 2.
Rent Relief - Apologies if you tried to use the rent survey link I sent last week. Please do fill out this survey so we can try to increase eligibility. Results will be used to try to improve this initiative. Rent survey found here.
Patios for Eateries - Lots of our eateries are planning to operate pop up patios on the sidewalks this summer. Bravo all who have applied; your patios will bring energy to our streets and encourage people to come to Kensington. If you are an eatery that has not applied and are interested in doing so, please contact me kensingtonbrz@shaw.ca.
Upcoming Kensington Events and Promotions - The BRZ team has cancelled most pre-COVID planned events for the year but we are working hard to put together new physical distancing ‘non-event events’ and promotions designed to both re-build member morale and to re-engage customers. Stay tuned for a newsletter soon with details.
Revitalizing Kensington Public Realm – We will need to work hard in the coming months to help Calgarians (and indeed ourselves) to regain confidence about going out in public, eating at restaurants, shopping in actual stores, and being in public places. Here are some ideas we’ve had so far as well as some projects already underway.
Retail Sidewalk Displays - A reminder that all retail businesses are currently permitted to have displays on the sidewalk any day with the understanding that you need to leave 6 feet of room for pedestrians to walk past. If you want to consult about how to set up email me kensingtonbrz@shaw.ca.
A small table and two chairs or a bench offering a place for customers to wait for their turn in your shop is also a great option.
Late Night Thursday's - As more businesses re-open and establish your operating hours, I offer a gentle suggestion to try to stay open late on Thursday nights. The more businesses that adopt this practice the more worthwhile Thursday nights can be for members.
Sunday Sidewalk Sales - Businesses are also encouraged to offer sidewalk sales especially on Sunday afternoons to add to vibrancy on our streets and re-activate our public realm and to establish Kensington as a great Sunday option.
Streetlights Projects –Soon we’ll be painting our streetlight poles with a non-stick paint that resist graffiti tagging, stickers and postering. This will improve our appearance and reduce removal costs. I got a grant for this project so there is no cost to the BRZ.
Sprucing Up Kensington with Flowers - Our new summer banners are up and look great. We are looking into ways to brighten up Kensington this summer. Do you have planters for flowers? We hope you will plant to flowers if you do. If you don’t have a planter maybe you have a basket bracket. Please check the wall outside your business to see if you have a bracket where a flower basket can be hung. We have some flower baskets left over from some years ago that we can offer to interested businesses who undertake to look after their own flower basket. We are late in the season to do this but we’d like to gauge interest and hope to proceed.
Until next week, I wish you all well.
Annie MacInnis
Executive Director
Kensington Business Revitalization Zone
200 203 10A Street NW
Calgary, AB, T2N 1W7
Cell: 403-969-3216
Email: kensingtonbrz@shaw.ca
