St. Catharines downtown set for rebound
‘People will be surprised by how quickly our downtown comes back’
Falling in love with downtown St. Catharines was a happy accident for All Figure boutique coowner Karina Nowysz.
She was touring Ontario cities a couple of years ago, looking for the perfect place to set up a specialized bra and swimwear boutique. On the way back from checking out properties in Niagara Falls with her father, she pulled off Highway 406 and stumbled onto St. Paul Street.
“We took a stroll and we just fell in love with the vibrant downtown, city life. There was lights, music, people walking, so we thought this would be a great location for All Figure,” said Nowysz, who previously worked in the Toronto area.
It took more than a year of renovations and permits before Nowysz would see her goal of opening a family business. She and her mother Iwona opened the boutique at 32 St. Paul St. on Aug. 8.
A pandemic wasn’t part of the plan, but Nowysz said they’ve been able to build customer clientele and are meeting “realistic goals” thanks to the community, which has been welcoming.
“We’re slowly growing. I knew my expectations were a little higher coming in, obviously they were set back because of the pandemic, but I’m still pleasantly surprised. I cannot complain,” she said.
“The St. Catharines community is pretty amazing.”
The vibrancy and momentum Nowysz felt when she first discovered downtown St. Catharines was halted by the global pandemic.
But the future of the city’s core post-pandemic looks bright, according to downtown watchers.
“It was incredible prior to COVID. It was hustling and bustling every single day downtown,” said St. Catharines Downtown Association executive director Tisha Polocko.
“We just have to persevere and one day we’ll be back on track.”
Mayor Walter Sendzik said there’s a pent-up demand to get out and do things. He expects once there’s a significant level of vaccinations and people feel comfortable, there will be a return of energy downtown. He said it may not be to the same level the downtown experienced in 2019, but it will build.
That will be driven by the re
turn of the Niagara Icedogs playing at Meridian Centre, performances at Firstontario Performing Arts Centre and Brock University students coming back to downtown’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.
“I think people will be surprised by how quickly our downtown comes back to life. And to those who are suffering through it, the restaurants, it can’t come soon enough,” Sendzik said.
The months before widespread vaccinations will be hard.
Samir Husika, the City of St. Catharines downtown development officer, said January, February and March are especially critical for local business and there’s a lot riding on consumer decisions.
“A lot those businesses that got though the first wave, they were able to sort of weather the storm,” he said. “The second wave is absolutely critical, because I think in this stage businesses are now looking at their very survival.”
The economic development office has been evolving its programs to support local businesses and encouraging shoppers to buy local.
“I think it’s really about civic pride and pride of place and supporting those main street areas like our downtown, that really are the heart of our community,” Husika said.
“So many positive things happened in the downtown over the last 10 years, and we don’t want to see that go to waste or regress or go backwards. And so I think we’re appealing to people’s hearts in that way as well.”
Sendzik said the first six months of 2021 are going to be a challenge for businesses and the city has to continue to find ways to support them. Beyond the six months, he said the city needs to ensure it’s helping to reactivate the downtown in positive ways. That may mean adjusting paid parking fees or continuing street closures to traffic in the summer.
“Let’s take the best of what we learned in 2020 and apply it in 2021 and not get caught up in the bureaucracy of red tape,” Sendzik said.
Jesse Barraza, co-owner of the new Eh Jose Taqueria at 45 James St. with Jose Granados, said downtown built momentum before the pandemic and it cannot let it go now.
The pair opened on Nov. 28, the restaurant an evolution from Granados’ popular stand that was at the farmers market for 11 years. They said business has been good so far, considering the pandemic, with support from former market clients and new customers.
“We need to continue making the downtown attractive for everybody because moving forward for the future, downtown could be that area where everybody gets together,” Barraza said.
“If you think of St. Catharines, geographically speaking, downtown is really that area where you can still meet in the middle. It’s that area where you can socialize, where you can do shopping, where you can dine. We have those big staple locations for sports, for the arts, that we need to continue to build around.”