TAKING A WRONG TURN?
Jayne Wyatt, owner of Book Bazaar, says retailers are being hurt by the closure of upper Bank Street to cars on Friday nights and Saturdays all summer.
Just as COVID nearly killed retail, it has led to experiments with old retail streets — leaving merchants happy, mad, or just confused.
The urban lab work, we suspect, is not done.
Unthinkable in before-times, upper Bank Street has been closed to cars on Friday nights and Saturdays all summer, leaving a 12-block stretch open for pedestrians, cyclists, strollers, scooters — anything without a muffler.
The Bank Street BIA thinks about two-thirds of its 200 or so retailers are in favour. Jayne Wyatt disagrees. With husband John, the 70-somethings run Book Bazaar, somehow keeping track of 120,000 used titles in a former restaurant at the corner of Frank Street.
“It's disruptive to most people and what is the benefit?” Jayne asks.
She says many retailers were surprised when barriers first went up from Queen to Catherine streets — like the livid Esso/ Circle K operator at Gladstone dealing with a sudden access problem: no cars, no gas. (This has since been fixed with a shorter closure, freeing up Gladstone.)
So, being an old political organizer, Wyatt started her own survey, keeping track on a spreadsheet.
“I was enlightened by going door-to-door.”
She discovered at least half the BIA members are not retailers at all (office workers, professional services) while a handful of others were parking lots or businesses that never opened Saturdays anyway.
Her tally? That would be 71 against, 13 for, 10 who were neutral. “In the end, I found a majority were being hurt by this shutdown.”
The BIA questions her methodology but agrees some retailers — like the strip's main grocery store — are against the closures.
“I think it all depends on the business you speak to. You can't please everyone,” BIA executive-director Christine Leadman says. “You have to find the balance.”
She said the “open-street” plan, also done in 2020, was born from COVID restrictions. In early days, customers were lining up on crowded sidewalks — making social distancing difficult — many stores were closed or barely open, and vehicle traffic was light.
So the BIA tried to innovate. “You can't expect to do business the same way.”
Would a street closure, then, create breathing room, animate a more relaxed public realm and actually bring customers to store doorsteps? For many in the food/beverage sector, it did. For others, it did not.
Bob Macfarlane, the owner of Pet Circus, opposes the closure, and while he hasn't suffered any great sales slump, some customers have declined to drive to the area on Saturdays.
“I feel closing a main thoroughfare with little to no promotion is not a good way to advertise for Bank Street businesses,” he wrote.
His skepticism was only underlined when, on the first Friday night, his storefront window was vandalized, leaving a $1,600 repair bill.
“With no traffic driving by at night, this is what can happen.”
His brother Jim, meanwhile, has been operating Sports 4 on Bank near Slater for about 40 years. He initially opposed the closures, but now supports the idea.
“We were against it, but I'll be perfectly honest, it has been a positive for me.” Not only are more people looking for running shoes in a burst of pandemic activity, but he wonders if customers remain “mall averse,” preferring smaller, outdoor storefronts.
“It just seems to draw more overall traffic.”
Leadman says they have modified the closure to suit the needs of individual stores. East-west streets have largely become twoway — so motorists can park near the corner of Bank — and takeout and Uber-type deliveries have some accommodation.
It isn't cheap, though, costing the BIA about $15,000 every weekend for security, street-sign changes, barrier erection and standby medical staff. There is, too, the disruptive rerouting of OC Transpo onto O'Connor and Kent streets.
Leadman says surveys have found overwhelming support from the public. She sent along an email from chef and restaurant owner Jon Svazas, who kept Fauna open with the help of a closed Frank Street, where an expanded patio went up.
“With your support, we were able to expand our patio capacity, employ an extra 10 people for the duration of the summer and create a bit of a financial buffer to survive the uncertain climate.”
Wyatt, meanwhile, says the concept has been poorly communicated to merchants, many of whom are new Canadians unclear on the role of the BIA.
“So far,” she replied to the association, “the main beneficiary of this shutdown is creating a safe zone for all young people who ride the scooters up and down Bank Street.”
It is, in truth, a fascinating experiment, one to end Labour Day weekend. COVID has shaken our long-held view of the office, the mall, even the shape of downtowns. And now our main streets, roadway designs we have clung to for 150 years.
Did we, on this long trip, take a wrong turn somewhere?