Downtown Halifax shops struggle amid trade war, affordability issues

Some Halifax stores are closing while new ones are opening amid inflation and trade war challenges.

Paragon, a downtown Halifax clothing store, has received a lot of attention since they announced they were closing their doors about a week ago.

“Every year there are businesses that go under but there are those that open up so there is a constant churn especially at the small-to-independent retail level,” says Jim Cormier, Atlantic director of the Retail Council of Canada.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Downtown Halifax Business Commission says they have seen more spots open up than shut down.

“The bad news is, of course, there always are some businesses that are leaving. Unfortunately, Urban Outfitters has gotten a lot of attention because it’s a big national chain. There was a lot of hope that they would do quite well on Barrington Street,” says Paul MacKinnon, CEO of the commission. “That company has closed a lot of its stores across Canada so it may not be a downtown issue but its really sad to see Urban Outfitters go because that really was an anchor tenant for the downtown.”

MacKinnon would like to see more downtown retail spots in the future.

“We look at Barrington Street traditionally for years as a main kind of high retail shopping street and main street for downtown. It hasn’t really been the case for awhile and part of the challenge with Barrington Street is it carries a lot of bus traffic, it carries a lot of traffic,” MacKinnon says. “We’ve really got to figure out what is the future vision for Barrington. It’s a beautiful street and has got these great historic buildings.

“It’s got great storefronts but there are still far too many vacancies in the street and what Barrington needs is kind of a new vision and maybe some new infrastructure to really bring it back as that main street.”

Spring Garden Road has also seen a mix of recent closures and openings.

“We had 29 businesses open. Out of those 29, three have changed hands but we had had 14 close, that’s a lot due to, ‘I’m done after 40 years, I can’t compete with the tariffs anymore in the area,’” says Sue Uteck, executive director of the Spring Garden Area Business Association.

Lezlie Oler, owner of In a Box Gifts, is hoping a change of location will improve her success.

“I am hoping for the business to be more known and expand. We were in a little upstairs boutique on Dresden Road and not many people know about us,” says Oler.

The shop has only been at their new location for a month-and-a-half and Oler says the public reaction has been positive.

“I think people are coming by and are very excited and think we are new, but we aren’t, it’s a whole new beginning for us,” says Oler.

Cormier notes the uncertain economic times – exacerbated by the pandemic, affordability issues and the trade war – are causing continual challenges for retailers.

“Retailers that can pivot, will. And they will do what they can to ensure they can find products that avoid those tariffs and in many respects our members are just trying to figure out who’s going to be hit with the tariffs,” says Cormier.

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