Halifax businesses close their doors amid high costs

Many retail shops and chains have closed their doors in 2025.

Kerry Foss started her Dartmouth, N.S., business Sudz in the City in 2017 and she says it became a quick success.

“(The business) grew to the point where I needed someplace other than my house to put all of the supplies and the inventory,” says Foss. “I moved to my own space on Cole Harbour Road.”

That store opened in December 2023, but Foss says by September 2024, she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up with overhead expenses and rent increases.

“So far I’ve been able to make the rent, but it was getting dicey,” says Foss. “I ended up having to tell the landlord that I needed to leave early.”

Foss says it was devastating to see the physical store close and clear out on Jan. 18.

“I’m getting out before the business goes under, but so many other small businesses have had to close down, including some of the soap businesses that I am the supplier to, because they can’t make those bills,” she says.

This week, Canadian retailer Peavey Mart announced the closure of dozens of their stores nationwide, including in Bedford, N.S.

According to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, inflation rates have gone down in the past year, but the challenge for businesses to stay afloat remains.

“Businesses are being impacted nationwide, in Nova Scotia in particular. We have a rental cap on residential rents (but) we don’t have a rent cap for businesses. So business costs can go up above what the five per cent rent costs can be,” says Patrick Sullivan, the chamber’s president and CEO.

As several stores in the region face closures, Sullivan says its important people shop locally.

“If we want to have businesses in our local area, we need to shop local. We need to visit the local establishments, and you need to buy from them. That’s the best way to keep those businesses in business,” says Sullivan.

Foss hopes the opportunity will come again to open a storefront but says government support is needed.

“We need more help. We need more help from the government. We need more grants available to help us get started, to help us keep afloat,” says Foss.

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