By John Chenier
The good news is that more than 75 new shops have opened in the ByWard BIA precinct since the onset of COVID in the Spring of 2020. The bad news, as demonstrated by the shops still for rent, is that more than 75 businesses have closed. As with many other places, COVID has brought change to the complexion of the business community of Lowertown, and it hasn’t stopped yet.
Discussions with business owners and managers indicated the presence of both pessimism and optimism. For many, the summer season was almost, but not quite, back to normal. However, now that the tourism season has ended, a lot of businesses are concerned about what lies ahead. You only have to walk through the mostly empty streets in the Market or the halls in the Rideau Centre to see why.
Many businesses, especially those that rely on daytime trade, commented on the absence of customers. Some expressed frustration that the hybrid model of work— one or two days in the office per week—will remain the standard for most downtown offices for the foreseeable future.
The nighttime scene for bars and restaurants is expected to be better, though still far below pre-2020 levels, and there were lots of opinions expressed as to why this was the case.
Some believe it is still the fear of infection that is keeping people away. Others suggest that after two years of isolation, people have changed their habits. They have grown accustomed to staying home or entertaining smaller groups, and no longer feel the need to go out on the town.
That view feeds into the other problem plaguing Lowertown businesses: the inability to find sufficient staff. As one owner said, “People no longer feel they need to go out as much. As a result, they need less money to get by, which means they need to work fewer hours to support their new lifestyles. Staff used to be anxious to get extra hours in, but not any longer.”
Lack of customers, shortage of staff, changing living and shopping habits: these all add up to make it a tough time to be running a business. To compensate, many are planning to open for shorter hours during the day and, where possible, to open for fewer days during the week. With staff shortages and no office workers to make up a lunchtime crowd, many restaurants are weighing whether to open only late afternoon. As a result, places to have lunch on slow days like Mondays may be difficult to find during the winter.
Build it and they will come
In the midst of all this angst and uncertainty, there are still people ready to pursue their dream and open their own business. Many of these new ventures carry on the tradition of making Lowertown the meeting place of many cultures. For example, three new restaurants right next to each other on Clarence Street have opened on the old Paddy Boland’s site. Each restaurant caters to different tastes: Peruvian (Raphael), Fusion-French (J’TM) and Southern USA (Lexington). They complement the long list of food experiences in Lowertown that allow a person to dine their way around the world without leaving town.
Indeed, food is the force behind most of the businesses that have recently opened. In the previous edition of the Echo, the spotlight was on Zups’ unique poutine and local artisan foods. The business profile in this issue is YKO BBQ Chicken. Another that has been featured, the Orange Turtle Bakery is finally ready to open on St Patrick Street. Tucker’s Food Experience is coming back to the corner it vacated two years ago. It will now share that space with Guianna Pizza & Wine.
Seldom has a trip to North Dalhousie looked so promising. There are interesting new venues with catchy names and unique products. For God Shakes, located at 204 Dalhousie next to the C’est Bon Cooking and across from Pili Pili Grilled Chicken, offers exotic milkshakes like no other establishment in Ottawa or maybe even Ontario.
Owner Sushen Kakkar, a graduate of Algonquin’s hotel and restaurant management program, has worked at various places in town since graduating. All the while, he has been saving money to open his own business. He was waiting for COVID to subside before taking the plunge, and finally was able to open in October.
Sushen sees his core market as people looking for something sweet in the late evening to round off the night. As you can see from the picture, one of his specialty shakes should certainly fill the bill. Some might compare it to having your cheesecake through a straw.
Those who prefer to satisfy their sweet tooth with a health drink can just head just two doors up to 208 Dalhousie, where owner Natasha Rodrigue has loads of healthy offerings at Smoothie Bar Le Vibe Nutrition. Patrons can go all out and have an Energy Bomb, stick with not-so-plain chocolate, vanilla or fruit-based smoothies, or sample one of many varieties of iced coffees.
Another interesting concept in Lowertown’s world of food is — a world of food. Universal Grocery, a.k.a. “a World of groceries” is located on the site of the old Trudel Home Hardware store at 140 George Street.
Owners Danny and Agnes Shaba are doing with groceries what they are doing with clothing at Dream Boutique in Billings Bridge. There they bring authentic clothes from around the world into one shop. At Universal, they are bringing food from many countries into one store or, as they say, “Putting diversity into practice.”
The store carries an eclectic range of products. The current mix tilts towards Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean tastes, but that will change as the owners, on the recommendation of their customers, are prepared to stock more foods from different parts of the world. Agnes says the goal is to keep the stock interesting, but affordable. (Confession: the Iranian dates were so good that I went back and bought all that they had on hand to give out as gifts to friends.)
Danny expects his main clientele will be the people living in the condo towers that surround his location. But he has not yet found a way to inform them of his presence. Right now, it’s all by word of mouth. The number of people coming into the store is increasing slowly but steadily. For Agnes, who spends her day tending the store, a more important signal is that many who come in to buy things have been returning.
If you shop today, you are not likely to find everything you are looking for, but you are very likely to find things you want to try. They have had to limit the amount of produce they carry until demand is sufficient to maintain fresh stock.
Not only will Danny be adding to his stock of food, he also plans to have a small supply of hardware items on hand. According to him, people miss having a hardware store nearby and have been asking for things, so he will be stocking some items such as lightbulbs, bits and bobs of hardware, and utensils because people are asking for these.
The store opened on October 1st but the official grand opening is planned for November 26th. Danny says VIPS will be in attendance and there will be special sales on various items yet to be determined.
There is an abundance of good things to sample and support in our community. We can all play a part in making sure the good outweighs the bad by thinking and shopping locally whenever we can.