Oil slowdown hits Newfoundland businesses

It wasn’t until a few months ago, as the oil industry’s troubles deepened, that St. John’s retail shop owner Paul Thomey started to see a drop in business.

The president and co-owner of That Pro Look, a sports apparel store at the Avalon Mall in Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest city, says customers are now reaching more for lower-priced items such as T-shirts instead of jerseys.

“You can tell that it’s the oil-industry dollars, the people doing three weeks on and off,” says Mr. Thomey. “Now they’ve been laid off. We’re seeing the impact at the retail level. Anybody that is selling discretionary items is probably feeling it a little bit.”

For the first half of the year, Mr. Thomey says business was still growing. It wasn’t until the last half of the year, as the price of oil continued to sink and layoffs in the sector mounted, that he noticed a slide in sales. Business is now down about five per cent year over year. Read More…

 

Oil slowdown hits Newfoundland businesses