Struggling London, Ont. businesses get a helping hand

Amid closures, new ways to help support businesses As local businesses close their doors, a new website is making it possible to continue your support. CTV London's Marek Sutherland reports.

London, Ont. — The COVID-19 crisis is still in the early stages, but one London company is helping other local businesses by giving them exposure.

David Bilson from rTraction says his team was brainstorming ways to help during what will no doubt be a difficult economic time for local stores and restaurants.

“It was about, how can we make sure the local businesses in London continue to get supported, continue to get customers, continue to get visibility and make sure we keep London local.”

Supportlondonbusinesses.com was born - a site created for residents to easily find local business, and links to their online stores and websites. The site also has a link for businesses to submit information to be included on the page.

Ayala Reshef is with ArtVenture Art Studio, one of the businesses that signed up.

“We’ve never have actually had to deal with a forced closure where there is so much unknown in the air. There’s so much...we don’t have the answers. So we’re trying to stay positive.”

Bilson says, ways you can help is by ordering products offered online locally, as well as purchasing gift certificates that can be used when life returns to normal.

“Gift certificates are perfect,” says Reshef, “because that way we can just apply for summer camps or for fall terms. Eventually life will go back to normal. The difficulty in this is that we just don’t know when.”