Reaction to power outage

A power outage in downtown Kelowna Thursday afternoon had some businesses closing their doors mid-service.

Photo: Bill Everitt

With the power back on, beer is flowing normally again at Doc Willoughby's Pub

Dave Willoughby owner of Doc Willoughby's Pub was frustrated by the outage.

"Our sales were more than cut in half yesterday," he said.

"I know they're trying their best to get everything up and running, but I would like a statement from Fortis explaining the problem," he said. "I don't really buy the faulty cable explanation." 

Chiara Boehlke, 17, said that Pita Pit had to get creative before closing during the outage.

“We couldn’t work at all, we had about six people using the lights on their cell phones to make the final six pitas,” she said. “My co-worker had to give change out of her pocket to one guy.”

“We were getting ready to move all the food out of the freezers when it came back on.”

Next door at Sliderz Community House, Mellissa Lietz said that although there were no customers in the restaurant when the power went out, they closed early.

Jared Lee, day manager at Earls On Top said the restaurant did close, but staff stayed on to greet customers and open in case the power came back on.

“The guest experience is the big thing for us, that's what we’re disappointed with right now,” he said. “We do the majority of our business in the evening.” 

Mike Betz, a bartender at Earls who stayed through the outage, said they had a couple of customers in around nine and they had just been served drinks when the power went out again. 

“By then it was pretty much time to close and prepare for the next day,” he said.