What’s happening in Saint-Henri?
It’s no secret that the arrondissement of Le Sud-Ouest has been undergoing gentrification. But seeing all the empty storefronts in Saint-Henri suggests it isn’t going well. Whatever your opinion of small businesses being priced off of rue Notre-Dame Ouest dans le quartier Saint-Henri in the past couple of years, it’s the latest example of another Montreal paradox: change and stagnation occurring concurrently. While small business life-cycles experience turbulent change, stagnation occurs in the form of storefronts remaining vacant.
If for the past couple of years you’ve frequently walked down Notre-Dame between avenue Atwater and rue de Courcelle, then you’ll have noticed this. There are multiple explanations to choose from, but a primary reason some storefronts stay vacant after being vacated was the topic of a lengthy article by Marcus Bankuti in The Link towards the end of 2019. While he found that greed is often a motivator, a more macroscopic view is presented in Fortune magazine by Montreal-born journalist Tracey Lindeman: “Montreal’s empty storefront problem is a lesson to every city.“
Rather than rewriting the journalism of Bankuti and Lindeman, below are some photos we took in Saint-Henri that add to the narrative they shared with the world.
A Changing Demographic
The Q4-2019 fermature of Magasin Libéral was not surprising to anyone who walked past the shop frequently. The store looked like a relic from another time, and indeed it was: Libéral opened during WWII, and catered to 20th century tastes right up to the end. The working-class clientele had moved out of Saint-Henri as the quartier became gentrified. As a result, more of the frequent customers traveled to Libéral by automobile than by foot. Who enjoys finding a parking spot now in Saint-Henri?
While some businesses survived the upgrade of Notre-Dame Ouest between Atwater and Place Saint-Henri, the closure of the street and sidewalks in front of Libéral was partly to blame for its downfall. People who drive cars want parking spots near a store, and parking is now harder to find along this stretch of Notre-Dame (regardless, a revitalization more focused on pedestrian traffic was still justified, in our opinion). And then came a hike in taxes and an increase of $100,000 in the property value of the building that housed the store.
In 2017, the street in front of Magasin Libéral looked like this:
Another store that had been open for decades and then closed in 2019 was this one (Artisanat Jean-Paul?) at the corner of Notre-Dame and rue Beaudoin:
The Curse of 3423-A
Chez Fred is a boulangerie venture established by Frédéric and Ludovic MacGuire, two baking brothers from Brittany. Their first store, founded in 2012, is still open at 5338 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG), but their Saint-Henri location was shuttered at the end of their two-year rental contract due to lack of turnover / profit. Insight into this was given in the Journal Métro, a French-language free daily newspaper published in Montreal:
While the production of an artisanal croissant costs around $ 0.90 depending on the price of a pound of butter, buying it on an industrial scale is roughly $ 0.35 each. When you sell them for $1.60 a unit, you have a small profit margin. But, we want it to be homemade is our passion. And it’s important to offer our products at low cost, even if it is at a loss.”
The brothers were caught, at least in part, between their rent versus what people living in the neighborhood could afford to pay. Chez Fred was one of my stops during any given week, but my loyalties were divided between them and two other boulangeries in the proximity: Mamie Clafoutis (also on Notre-Dame) and Première Moisson (at the Atwater Market). The brothers claim that their NDG store has the same level of competition as the Saint-Henri store did. But it’s doubtful that the competition in NDG was as tough, since in Saint-Henri they were up against both Mamie Clafoutis and Première Moisson — both less than 5-minute walks from the now-vacant storefront.
Despite offering a few items other local bakeries did not, Chez Fred couldn’t make a profit.
After Chez Fred at this location came an installment of Emma’s Boutique Gourmande, known for their cupcakes (they also offer[ed] cookies, macaroons, cake pops, pies, donuts, and ice cream). Now shuttered, Emma’s at the time of this writing still has their website up (for bulk ordering), but it seems they don’t have a physical location where customers can visit and choose baked goods from shelves.
This spot on Notre-Dame appears to have been the second shop for both Emma and the MacGuire brothers. It’s not unusual for non-franchised food establishments to go out of business after a year or two for various reasons. Here, the rent may just be too high for an independent boulangerie (that’s the explanation most charitable to the aforementioned business owners, since we don’t know the full story).
Saint-Henri wasn’t ready for cupcakes? Or was the rent too high?
Rosetta was another bakery that didn’t last long. What happens when you put an Italian bakery in proximity to Première Moisson, Mamie Clafoutis, Pain d’Épi, and Chez Fred ? Not to mention Rustique and Patrice Pâtissier, two upscale places just a bit farther? In my case what happened is that I walked right on by Rosetta on my way to les boulangeries françaises.
Other empty storefronts in Saint-Henri that were food establishments
Torteria Lupita was an affordable (by Saint-Henri’s recent standards) Mexican sandwich shop that opened in 2016 and shuttered in November 2019. Their facebook message [below] provided a nebulous “personal reasons” explanation:
The pan-Asian fusion spot CHO, which opened at the beginning of 2014, quietly closed its doors for good 6 years later, with no explanation (although reportedly the restaurant changed ownership in 2019). According to Eater, “The people behind successful Mile End restaurant Hà and casual St-Henri Vietnamese counter Tran are joining forces to bring a new brasserie to the city’s southwest.” But who knows what will happen to this idea now that Montreal is struggling with COVID-19. Below we borrowed CHO’s image of their fare, which some people liked, for posterity (since we don’t know how long their website will stay online):
Devastating to some long-time residents, Miracle Pizza was put out of business by a fire in early December of 2017. The establishment had been open since 1941. The fire, which started in the basement, left the facade intact, but the storefront has remained empty for over two years. Perhaps prospective tenants are scared off by the possibility of another electrical fire?
Empty storefronts in Saint-Henri each have a different story
Corey Shapiro, owner of Vintage Frames Company, is moving his flagship store L’Archive from one spot on Notre-Dame Ouest to another, just a few blocks west. Why? He claims the new location will be more ostentatious than his old L’Archive, so lack of cash is probably not the reason.
Above are Shapiro’s old and new storefront locations [old on the left]. Ironically, his new store (currently being remodeled) is even closer in proximity to FATTAL [pictured below], a likely home of the idealistic anti-gentrification folk who smashed the window at Shapiro’s old location.
Speaking of gentrification…
What does gentrification mean in Montreal? The soul of a neighborhood slowly evaporates. Beloved mom & pop neighborhood establishments vanish, and the new shops — even if affordable — often don’t resonate with longtime residents. Chain stores invade, goods and services increase in price (with or without an accompanying increase in quality), and ethnic diversity fades away.
Not long ago, real estate speculation in Canada’s 2nd largest city [Montreal!] was comparatively mild. The regulatory framework pertaining to such speculation remains mild, despite enormous avaricious speculation — well known in Toronto and Vancouver — rearing its ugly head here too.
However, a document released by the City of Montreal’s Commission sur le développement économique et urbain et l’habitation states that research has revealed “it is clear that greed on the part of property owners is only one reason why premises remain unoccupied for long periods. All of the other causes can be explained by market conditions, for which activities that can help attenuate these business risks can be identified.”
Possible solutions in Montreal
The commission’s report [Public consultation on vacant premises along commercial thoroughfares] also provides the following list of measures proposed or adopted in other cities to remedy empty storefronts.
Overview of measures planned or adopted elsewhere:
As you can guess, there’s no one solution to empty storefronts. When the city consulted small business owners in Montreal, the following ideas were offered. Many of them seem very reasonable.
Review of the main possible solutions envisaged:
