COVID-19 pandemic has put cross-border shopping trips and vacations on hold since March, and many American businesses along the border say they miss both the revenue and the familiar Canadian faces.Bill Kilby, manager of Hardwick’s Country Store in Calais, Maine, has seen a dramatic 90 per cent loss in revenue and had to lay off 10 employees.
Online shopping sales surge by 99% in Canada amid coronavirus pandemic “I would buy $1,500 wholesale of milk a week from two different dairies, and now I’m lucky to squeeze out a $100 order every two weeks,” Kilby said in a recent interview.Kilby operates the store, an attached duty-free shop and two gas stations.