The holiday season was profitable for restaurateurs in Quebec and Montreal due to the bad weather and not the tax reduction which ultimately did not change much according to some of them.
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“It was very strong, but I don’t think the tax holiday had anything to do with it. The weather helped us more, I think. People were looking more to do indoor activities with the rain,” says the chef and co-owner of the restaurant Chez Rioux & Pettigrew, Dominic Jacques.
The Old Quebec restaurateur points out that the holiday season which is ending was the most lucrative in the last 10 years. “It’s an absolute record, both in terms of traffic and sales,” he rejoices.
The owner of Bloomfield, Caroline Dumas, expected a bigger shock with the suspension of the GST.
“Before the holidays, we had a few quiet weeks. I thought maybe people were waiting for December 14… but no. It has changed absolutely nothing,” she notes.
Fortunately, the catering service of the establishment in the Outremont district was not idle to help replenish the coffers. When The Journal spoke with her on the telephone, Mme Dumas was enjoying a well-deserved first day off after the busy time of the year.
Like other culinary entrepreneurs from Quebec’s two largest cities, she also believes that the rainy and mild weather has worked in the industry’s favor.
Good feedback
The chef-owner of the restaurant Chic Tandi! and vice-president of the board of directors of the Association des restaurateurs du Québec (ARQ), Hugues Philippin, maintains that the feedback is overall positive compared to recent weeks across the province.
“It went well overall. We haven’t heard any negative stories from the association, so that’s a good sign. My overall impression is that it was a good holiday season for restaurants.”
At the time of writing these lines, however, the ARQ had not held a formal meeting to start the new year. It was therefore not possible to have a clearer picture of the situation.
The organization also welcomed the Government of Canada’s decision to offer a GST holiday to consumers. “It must have helped at least symbolically. People still had in mind that they would save a little,” says Mr. Filipino.
Moins de «no-shows»
In recent years, restaurateurs have been grappling with the scourge of customers who do not honor their reservations, commonly known as “no-shows”.
According to Hugues Philippin, the ARQ has not heard of any stories like this this year. Would the message hammered out by the industry have been heard by customers?
“I think people have that in mind more and more. Restaurants are taking steps to avoid them too, by asking for the credit card number when making reservations. We remain convinced that we should be allowed to charge a penalty, but it is encouraging!”
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