Over 43 years of selling hot tubs, Grant Gislason has known some lean years.
He counts at least four major recessions where he has lost money and taken years to balance his bottom line.
But this latest recession, triggered by the start of the pandemic a year ago, is much different.
Consumers haven鈥檛 stopped spending on luxury items like spas 鈥� they鈥檙e buying them up in droves, as public health orders urge people to hunker down in their homes.
鈥淚t is a hard recession for many businesses, but not for us at all,鈥� said Gislason, who owns Vintage Hot Tubs, Swim Spas and Billiards in Victoria and Langford. 鈥淭his will cover losses of all the recessions I鈥檝e ever been through.鈥�
Gislason said his revenue with taxes over the past nine months is about to hit $3.5 million 鈥� almost double what would be a very good year. And there鈥檚 no slowdown in sight, even with spring arriving and some of the pandemic restrictions easing.
Sales have reached $300,000 over the first two weeks in March.
鈥淎 lot of spending options have been taken away from consumers 鈥� travel, regular dining, recreation, live entertainment and sports 鈥� so people have that [extra money] and are staying home,鈥� Gislason said Friday.
鈥淢y marketing is [a hot tub] is like a staycation 鈥� it鈥檚 like paying for a three- to five-week holiday, plus you feel better and sleep better.鈥�
At Moe鈥檚 Home Collection, Curtis Vertefeuille is experiencing the highest sales in the five years he has been open downtown; he even moved to a new larger location on Store Street three weeks ago.
Stay-at-home orders and working from home have meant people are spending most of their time where they live, he said. That means sprucing up their nests.
鈥淟ots of people are doing home renovations. We鈥檙e getting lots of new customers. Some who had been eyeing a sofa for a couple thousand now have the funds to buy it,鈥� said Vertefeuille. 鈥淧eople aren鈥檛 taking vacations, so they鈥檙e spending that money. One of my neighbours downtown says it鈥檚 the best year she鈥檚 had in 25 years.鈥�
Beds, mattresses, tables and chairs are all hot commodities, he said.
Home-improvement stores are doing brisk sales as homeowners buy paint and lighting fixtures and install new toilets and plumbing fixtures. Consumers are buying dimensional lumber for decks and additions despite record prices for the commodity.
Grocery stores are also reporting record sales, as are gardening centres.
Outdoor retailers are selling camping equipment, kayaks and canoes and lots of bicycles, including electric models, as health authorities encourage citizens to stay active and outside as a way to avoid the COVID-19 virus and provide a boost to mental health.
But the success of some retailers comes at a cost for 颅others.
The travel industry has been grounded with borders closed and airlines down to bare-bones operations. Tourism-industry sectors such as whale-watching and souvenir sales have fallen off the map over the past year. Hotels are largely empty and event organizers who put on concerts and sporting events have suffered massive losses.
Some retailers have had to scramble to e-commerce to make up for slumping sales and reduced capacity in their stores.
The restaurant industry is still reeling from the gut punch of pandemic restrictions, shifting to takeout models to make up for the big drop in allowable seating.
Many of those dollars are being funnelled to other 颅businesses.
Bill Fry of the Trek Bicycle Store said the pandemic has led to a 400 per cent sales increase in the global bike market, fuelled by the rise in electric bicycles. That has caused a lag in the supply chain and led in some cases to customers waiting to receive their purchases.
鈥淎 customer reminded me today that it wasn鈥檛 that long ago that we did have to wait for certain things, but we鈥檝e become such a quick-fix society now,鈥� he said.
The bicycle market has been 鈥渆xtremely healthy鈥� in Victoria during the pandemic, said Fry. People of all ages and abilities are buying bikes.
At Idar Jewellers on Fort Street, a family business that designs and creates high-end rings, business is also booming.
鈥淟ast year at this time, I thought [the pandemic] would be the end of us,鈥� said Lara Bergseth.
鈥淏ut every month we have been doing double the business we did the year before, and the year before that. This past Christmas was the best we鈥檝e ever had.鈥�
She works with her father, Idar, 76, who is marking 50 years in Victoria this month.
With no travel or concerts and dining reduced, Bergseth said the jewelry shop is picking up a lot of discretionary spending.
鈥淥ne customer said she wasn鈥檛 going to Greece this year and had $10,000 to spend on a nice ring for herself,鈥� said Bergseth.
And sentiment was high, she said, with customers 颅spending money on jewelry for 颅birthdays, anniversaries and special events. Wedding-ring sales also skyrocketed, as couples not allowed to have big weddings with banquets, bands and big guest lists plowed money into more expensive rings, said Bergseth.
Demand for Idar鈥檚 custom jewelery crossed borders. A jewelry store in Dallas, Texas reached out on behalf of one of its customers for one of Idar鈥檚 Calla Lily rings, which sell for about $3,500.
