West Side Place poised for major expansion
A family affair for Port Colborne business endeavour
You could say it started with a bit of burger love.
For 30 years, Terry St. Amand owned the Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet franchise in Welland before he sold it and retired.
The last bit didn’t last long, but more of that later.
Now, Amand’s daughter Lisa Lynchehaun owns and operates the Port Colborne Harvey’s franchise, a business she purchased from Tanja Shultz, who ran the restaurant in the west end of the city for 20 years.
Burger love, it seems, runs in the family, as Lynchehaun’s mother Diane Elliott and her husband Ron own two Harvey’s locations in St. Catharines.
Lynchehaun said her location at the busy intersection of Main Street and West Side Road is due for a renovation. The problem is there’s no room to grow. The footprint is fixed, and the parking lot, which is shared with McDonald’s, is already busy.
Fortunately, another opportunity presented itself — on the other side of the street.
RioCan, owner of West Side Place, which houses No Frills, along with other businesses such as Pet Valu and liquidation outlet Treasure Hunt, was looking to sell its 3.4-hectare property.
And it turns out, St. Amand wasn’t quite ready to retire.
“I just couldn’t keep my nose out of it,” he said.
In May, he took ownership of the property and has plans to redevelop the underused half, keeping all the existing businesses and attracting new national clients for the portion near Highway 3.
St. Amand said he’s been in discussions with several potential tenants, though is not able to identify them at this time. He figures that shovels should be hitting the ground within a year.
“It takes time to get all these people signed up,” he said.
In the meantime, he’s been in talks with organizers of the downtown cruise nights to invite participants to keep things going once the downtown streets re-
open to traffic at 9 p.m.
Lynchehaun, meanwhile, plans to build a new Harvey’s in the lot within about four years, though the current location will undergo a facelift, she said.
She said the new restaurant will allow for an easier drive-thru experience, and will be more spacious inside, with more booths and seats.
It will also have other updated amenities, such as a generator in case of power outages and underground trash storage, doing away with unsightly trash bins.
“It’s just going to give our customers a more comfortable experience,” she said.
Plus, she said, the other tenants, including the existing businesses, will have the benefit of a local landlord.
Lynchehaun said she and her father envision opening up their property to hosting community events.
“The benefit of having a local owner is we want to work with the community and have more events here,” she said.