Before Ollie’s closed in December, Natalee Barker said she would find herself constantly telling fellow staff how much busier the student pub had been prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I felt like a broken record,” the Ollie’s supervisor and long-time employee said.
Barker won’t be repeating herself to her colleagues this term because Ollie’s has temporarily closed.
After a fall term of underwhelming attendance and projections of more lost revenue, Ollie’s announced in February plans to stay closed for the rest of the winter term. CUSA expects to save $45,000 by keeping Ollie’s closed this term, vice president (finance) Venassa Baptiste said.
CUSA budgeted for expenses of just over $5.7 million this year, more than $4 million dollars higher than last year’s projected expenses. Council planned for Ollie’s to bring in $184,000 in revenue this year.
CUSA’s three-member board of trustees, a body Baptiste sits on, made the decision to close the pub for the winter term at the recommendation of Ollie’s manager Miguel Filiatrault.
“With regards to why Ollie’s didn’t do as well as it should have this fall, the simple reason is that we are in year two of a global pandemic,” Filiatrault wrote in an email to the Charlatan.
Baptiste said this Ollie’s closure wasn’t driven solely by anticipated losses.
“Given that we are a non-profit organization, I understand that our goal is not to make money. Our goal is to serve the student body first,” she said, referring to CUSA’s non-profit status.
Before March 2020, Barker said that frequent events ensured full tables.
“Ollie’s was always full — from the time we opened to the time we closed,” she said.
Though the campus pub is known for hosting events such as Thirsty Thursdays and karaoke nights, the university approved no events in the fall semester. Tables were emptier and revenue was lower than before the pandemic.
CUSA vice president (student life) Daisy Kasper said the association tried to plan a Panda Game watch party at Ollie’s but was unable to get approval from the university.
The event would have seen Ollie’s open on a Saturday for students to watch the football game between Carleton and the University of Ottawa. Students would have stayed at their tables while watching, with the same distancing and capacity rules as usual.
Kasper said the university’s return to campus committee initially approved the event. But two days before the game, she said it reversed its approval because the University Centre, where Ollie’s is located, would be closed.
“Meanwhile, Ollie’s does have a separate entrance by the patio that we could have used,” she said.
“The decision for Ollie’s to close for the winter term was made by pub management and CUSA,” university spokesperson Tara Jackson wrote in an email to the Charlatan.
Kasper said CUSA’s inability to get events cleared with the university was frustrating.
“I think one of our biggest roadblocks from an events perspective is pushback from the university in terms of what events we can put on,” she said.
Kasper said the university turned down plans to livestream a drag show from Ollie’s in February.
Kasper said she thinks the university refusing proposed events contributed to Ollie’s low clientele.
Barker attributed the less-than-bustling business to a reduction of foot traffic at Carleton.
“I don’t think that I was fully aware of how little action there would be on campus,” she said.
Barker pointed to inconveniences such as CUScreen checks as deterrents against coming to campus. She also said a lack of events meant fewer opportunities to bring new customers into the pub.
“I definitely think that some of these initiatives would have pushed people in more,” she said.
Barker said that though she had expected business to be slower this fall, she hadn’t expected it to be as slow as it was. An emptier pub meant staff were often sent home mid-shift, losing anticipated wages, which Barker says is a common practice in the restaurant industry.
Third-year architectural engineering student Kaitlyn Johnson said she only ever went to Ollie’s once, in the first week of her first year at Carleton. If it reopened now, she said she’d return.
“It would be nice to have other things on campus to eat than just the Tim Horton’s and the Starbucks and stuff like that,” Johnson said.
Baptiste said that Ollie’s couldn’t provide its usual experience during the pandemic. She said that Ollie’s and CUSA now plan to “to reconvene and come back for the fall semester better and brighter than ever.”
Barker said she hoped that when Ollie’s eventually reopens, its pre-pandemic culture and attendance will resume.
When that time comes, Barker said she doesn’t expect to be working at the pub anymore. She’s been there for six years, but her co-workers shouldn’t fully rule out hearing her reminisce about pre-pandemic Ollie’s.
“If I’m around, it is a great place and I’ve always loved working there,” she said. “If it’s available and I’m available, I don’t see why not.”
Filitrault emailed Ollie’s employees the restaurant would be reopening on May 5.
With files from Adamo Marinelli. Featured image from file.
