EDMONTON -- For three years, a Sherwood Park woman has been working towards opening a new business - a spa for babies.
“I was set to open in March but couldn’t because we were heading into a lockdown,” said Tara Machuik, owner of the Baby Spa.
“My business started with a three-month lockdown and then opened with restrictions, so the Baby Spa still hasn’t been able to operate at full capacity,” she said.
Because the business is so new and does not yet have a financial history, Machuik said she doesn’t qualify for the pandemic relief programs being offered by the government.
“You also have to prove that the pandemic has affected your business by a certain per cent, and it has affected your revenue, and I can’t prove that because I haven’t been able to operate at full capacity yet, so I can’t prove that it’s affected 30 per cent, 50 per cent, 60 per cent.”
Now in the midst of another health ordered shutdown, Machuik is worried.
“It wasn’t just a matter of waking up one day thinking I’m going to start a business. This has been the last three years of my life. We’ve made sacrifices, my family has made sacrifices,” said Machuik.
“We’ve been personally floating, no pun intended, the business,” she added.
The week before the current lockdown went into effect Machuik let customers know it could be their last chance to come to the spa.
“I was clear that I’m not sure if my business was going to make it.”
In a matter of hours she went from five appointments to 54.
Shay Kimber brought her 11-week-old son Matteo.
“He splashes around, kicks, he loves bath time but here he’s more free,” Kimber said.
“He doesn’t have to be propped up on something or someone holding him under his arms he can just float around and kick around as he pleases.”
Kimber has been trying to bring her son to the spa at least once a month since it opened.
“He had really bad gas as well as reflux, wasn’t sleeping very good in the night. After our first experience here we noticed a difference in all of that,” said Kimber.
When she saw the spa was in trouble, Kimber asked her husband to donate to the business instead of buying her a birthday gift.
“I was like let’s go one last time and whatever you’re going to spend on me, give it to her as a tip,” she said.
Kimber has since taken it a step further and has created a Gofundme - a gesture the spa owner wasn’t sure she could accept at first.
“I was blown away. I just didn’t know why someone would want to do that,” said Machuik.
“I didn’t want to believe that my business was at that point where I needed support from others,” she added.
Although the future of the Baby Spa is unclear, both women hope other businesses will be encouraged to let customers know when they’re struggling.
“I don’t think it’s something to be ashamed of or keep to yourself. I think it’s a time to reach out and people that care about you and care about your business will be willing to help,” said Kimber.