While many businesses in Cochrane were hit with additional restrictions and closures this month, Cochrane Walmart has remained open despite a confirmed COVID-19 outbreak.

Flirt Cosmetics Studio has had to shut its doors for all services outside of retail, and co-owner, Ciara Ramsden says this news is another hard blow to take. 

“It's very difficult as a small business owner when you are doing everything right and you have proven within your own four walls that you can go 14 or 15 months without any cases being transmitted in your own business, and then see a large box store with quite a big outbreak, being allowed to remain open. The government is talking about how they want to protect lives and livelihoods, but that alone is completely antithetical to what we're seeing in reality.”

“I don't claim to speak for all small businesses in town, but I imagine that everybody is feeling the same level of frustration and devastation. We're all so exhausted. Everyone's talking about pivoting and there's nowhere left to pivot.”

Ramsden is a former paramedic of 20 years and Flirt also has a medical director, who is a nurse practitioner with 23 years under her belt on-site. They also have a registered nurse on staff who has 18 years of experience. 

“We are very well equipped, we're very knowledgeable, there is a lot of education about cross-contamination, centralization, cleanliness, and all the right things to protect the people that come into our business. That doesn't exist in Walmart but they're allowed to remain open and we have to close?”

“We believe in public health restrictions, we believe in masking, we believe in hand sanitization and medical-grade cleanliness. We believe in vaccinations, almost all of us have had at least our first vaccine if not two vaccines, but that's not what this is about.”

While Ramsden does not claim to have the ultimate solution, she believes taking a closer look at each operation could be beneficial.

“I think that the government needs to look at things on more of an individual basis and I mean, listen, that is a huge challenge because there are thousands and thousands of businesses. But if you as a business can prove that you've never been involved in an outbreak, you've never had a COVID transmission case within your business you should be allowed to remain open because you are following public health measures.”

“We're gonna see the landscape of our community change a lot if all we're left with is big box stores because little guys can't survive anymore.”

“To see all of Cochrane’s dollars going to a place like Walmart is quite crushing.”