While the G20 Summit has come and gone, local businesses may take a while to rebound from its impact.
A spending report from Moneris Solutions confirmed what local store owners already knew - that spending in the downtown area dropped, in some cases precipitously, from June 25 to 27.
While many businesses simply experienced a loss of customers as most stayed away and protesters in the core had other things than shopping on their minds, some closed down entirely and still others suffered damages and looting.
Retail sales were down 11 per cent and restaurant sales dipped 33 per cent in downtown Toronto, and those numbers increased to 28 per cent and 67 per cent respectively in the security zone.
In the Entertainment District, some businesses were inside the G20 security perimeter, making it virtually impossible to open.
"The loss of business in that pocket was tremendous," said Janice Solomon of the Entertainment District BIA.
Making matters worse, the weekend promised to be a busy one, what with generally good weather, the start of summer vacation, a highly anticipated but eventually cancelled series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies and other events downtown.
"The weekend would have been very big in our district," Solomon said.
While Solomon said she had not heard of stores in the Entertainment District being targeted by vandals, she noted the protests had an impact on local stores nonetheless.
"We were promoting a dinner theatre package at Second City and other packages in the area, but by mid-Saturday the thoughts of that being a success pretty much disappeared," she said. "Some stores had staff stuck because the TTC was closed downtown and they had to make a last-minute decision to close. Some of those stores then made the decision not to open on Sunday."
Many store owners in the Downtown Yonge BIA had similar experiences, with the added issue of smashed windows and some looting at some 40 locations.
Downtown Yonge BIA Spokesperson Joe MacDonald said business owners are still reporting damages and lost income, meaning the BIA has no idea what the impact was as of yet.
"We have people reporting they lost $30,000 easily on the week of the G20, not including damages," he said.
As for the damages sustained, MacDonald noted chain stores were usually the hardest-hit by vandals. He added, however, smaller stores that had windows smashed may find it harder to fix their stores.
"If you run a gift shop and you have one window broken and I run the Tim Hortons, the windows at College Park are more expensive to replace, but I might have more support to be able to replace the windows," he said. "You can't really say any one store got hit harder than others."
Some businesses, including HMV and a Bell store, boarded up their windows before the protests, but MacDonald said those decisions were made by the stores themselves.
"We were told by the integrated security unit and by those promoting the G20 that (the summit) was an opportunity for Toronto to put its best foot forward," he said. "It's difficult to say 'Toronto is wide open. Let's board up the windows.'"
Both MacDonald and Solomon said they were urging businesses to apply for ex gratia payments from the federal government to cover for losses. The federal government made a form available to local businesses that promised reimbursement for losses or damages sustained due to the G20.