Business in downtown Regina cuts hours in half

There’s nothing sweet about this deal: Fresh Carnival has shortened its business hours even more.

On June 30, the business in downtown Regina announced it would be closing earlier, moving from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m. Now, the restaurant is closing at 3 p.m., along with its other business Fresh and Sweet.

In a statement made on its Facebook page, Fresh Carnival said the decision to close earlier was due to ongoing issues in the neighbourhood that began in early February.

A homeless encampment sprang up in the courtyard in front of City Hall in June.

Owner and manager Tania Fraser said the initial incident in February was an overdose in the restaurant’s public washroom.

“We started having some incidents in the downtown area just with the amount of people that have congregated down here,” she said.

In the last few weeks, the business has had a few more issues. A man was harassing some of Fraser’s staff. There was also a fight in the dining room last Sunday.

Fraser is concerned for the safety of her young staff, most of whom are women.

“(They have been) feeling uncomfortable with the amount of traffic in this McIntyre (Street) door,” she said.

Fraser has decided to lock that door. Now patrons must use the entrance on Victoria Avenue which has security.

She said the restaurant donates to the encampment next door as often as it can. Fraser is upset that nothing is being done to help the folks find housing.

“These people need help,” she said. “I can’t help them. We’ve done all that we can in the community to help them. But somebody needs to make a decision and find somewhere for them to be.”

She said the change has affected her business. The Facebook post received a lot of positive remarks, but she knows that will dwindle off.

“We have been slow in the last couple of months — slower than usual in the summer,” Fraser said.

She said the most impacted are her staff members who have had their hours cut in half. They used to be open eight hours a day, now it’s down to four.