A Calgary pet store owner blames prolonged city construction in Marda Loop for the permanent closure of her shop, saying repeated promises of completion were never fulfilled and the financial toll became impossible to bear. Doodle Dogs co-owner and co-founder Meghan Huchkowsky announced Tuesday that the store’s location at 2040 34th Ave. S.W. had closed for good, ending what she described as a long and costly battle with construction impacts. “It’s been 15 months. We can’t keep operational here,” Huchkowsky said in an interview. “It’s costing us a fortune to run the business, which is why we chose to just close the doors permanently.” In a social media post, Huchkowsky wrote that her team had held on through months of financial losses, saying they “kept saying ‘just one more month … it’ll get better,’” but could no longer survive the disruption. “The construction absolutely killed our store,” the post read. “You win, City.” While she stopped short of directly blaming any individual with the City of Calgary, Huchkowsky said the pace and duration of construction on sidewalks, streets and underground utilities had been devastating. “Something happened where this was decided to be done, and then I believe it was pretty mismanaged,” she said. “It just feels like it never ends.” She said limited accessibility, changing sidewalk routes, blocked entrances and misinformation from construction staff kept customers away—even when the store was technically open. “There was an issue where someone on site was flagging people away from our entrance, citing that they did not have access to our store,” she said. “That was devastating.” Colin Chapman, the City of Calgary’s project lead for the Marda Loop construction, said crews were instructed to maintain access and pedestrian detours throughout the project. “One of the key pieces in our planning was to make sure pedestrian access was maintained at all times,” he said. “Sometimes that doesn’t happen, and then we try to rectify it as quickly as we can.” Chapman said city crews have performed daily safety checks and met weekly with business liaisons. He added that parking in the area has been limited during road work but said two temporary lots with about 75 combined stalls were created nearby to help. “Again, it’s not the same as having [parking] directly in front of the business, which we understand,” he said. The Marda Loop Business Improvement Area’s executive director, Bob van Wegen, acknowledged the hardship businesses have faced during the construction. “Businesses definitely have had a tough time during construction. There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “It’s been super challenging for the businesses that have been here during construction.” Van Wegen said the bulk of the work is expected to be completed by mid-September, with final paving and cleanup extending into early October. But Huchkowsky said she’s heard similar timelines before and no longer believes them. “I’m very grateful that the BIA is optimistic, but they’re hearing the same information that I’m hearing—and it’s the same information we heard 15 months ago when we opened,” she said. Chapman also said the project is expected to be substantially complete by the end of September, with only “final checks and deficiency walks” continuing into October. “Our construction completion date is Oct. 31,” he said. “But before then, we should be substantially complete for all those areas.” Huchkowsky says had the city actually told her to shut down during construction, she would have received loss-of-business insurance. She says staying open with the reduction in access and customers was untenable. Asked whether the city ever considered advising businesses to shut down temporarily, Chapman said no. “We try to plan to make sure we have business access and continuity there for them,” he said. “We are building for the community and to keep them operational, not to close them.” The shop’s neighbour, Tina Bilt, who owns Skintelligence European Boutique, says her business of 40 years has also suffered. She’s now considering relocating. “It’s not really running a business now,” Bilt said. “It’s just waiting for clients to come, and they cannot come because it’s construction everywhere.” Though the city has promoted a nearby two-hour free parking lot, Huchkowsky questions how many customers are even aware of it. “How do people know about it? Is it my responsibility to communicate that there’s a parking lot randomly in a back alley?” she said. She’s not seeking compensation, she said—just recognition of the cost. “I can’t by any means say what (is) or what isn’t owed. But here’s what I can say for certain: everyone who lives here who shops at our store loves our store and has told us they can’t get to our store,” she said. “That’s what we need the city to hear.” Despite Doodle Dogs’ other locations continuing to operate, along with its online store, Huchkowsky says the Marda Loop closure leaves her grieving what could have been. “We wanted this store for them. They wanted this store. And I’m devastated that the folks who live here don’t have the commercial access they need,” she said. “At least now we have control over what we can do about the situation, because obviously nobody else is taking control.”
