COVID-19 pandemic last March, so did the shop.“The longest closure up until now was 9/11, and that was a day and a half. So as you can imagine, it pales in comparison to the 15 months that we’ve been going through,” said Foster in an interview.
Provinces working with Ottawa on plan to reopen U.S.-Canada border Unlike other retail businesses, duty-free stores can’t pivot in the pandemic to online sales or curbside pickup.
Duty-free products must be exported after purchase, so once they leave the store they must leave the country.Foster goes to check on his spacious store regularly and to check the expiry dates of items he never thought he would have to throw out.