DARTMOUTH, N.S. -- Nova Scotia is slowly reopening.

Many golf courses are now open and so is one major retailer.

At the Brightwood Golf Course in Dartmouth, N.S., preparations to reopen are now in the final phase.

"It's been a little bit surprising is how fast everything came to a stop in again how things got ramped up again," said Brightwood general manager Glenn Singleton.

The course will reopen Wednesday and Singleton says the phone has been ringing off the hook.

"Golf is one of those activities where you can social distance," Singleton says.

Business is quickly returning to normal and many of the 600 members can't wait to get back on the course,

"With the past two months it's been kind of boring," said Brightwood member Alex Joseph. "It'll be good to see the people out there and have some fun."

There will be restrictions. The restaurant will be closed. Parking, entering, and exiting the course will be closely monitored -- and golfers will need to space out when they golf.

"If you can't keep up you'll be asked to speed up or pick up your ball and go to the next tee," Singleton said.

One big-box retailer in Dartmouth opened Tuesday -- a small sign of progress for those yearning for some positive economic news.

"Yeah, it's a good sign to see business is starting to adapt to the new normal," said Tim Rissesco the executive director of the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission.

The Bay says shoppers will notice many changes:

  • stores are open five hours a day;
  • employees will wear masks; and,
  • physical distancing and crowd sizes will be watched closely.

Rissesco hopes the Bay reopening is a first wave of stores to open its doors.

"We like to see businesses start to find their way to reopen, to be able to respect social distancing inside the stores, and allow the normalization of business," Rissesco said.

He says many businesses owners are struggling and he adds bigger retail stores reopening offer a ray of hope that maybe more store openings could soon be announced.