Another business is shining light on the difficulties of running a business in downtown Edmonton. Tim Moffitt, a certified pedorthist, says Custom Orthopedic two blocks south of MacEwan University has been plagued by a number of problems in recent years. The most distressing has been medical incidents and disruptive behaviour he believes is related to drug use. After a person locked themselves in the customer washroom for 45 minutes, the store had a doorbell installed. “We’re not even selling Jimmy Choos here. We’re selling orthopedic shoes and yet we’re still getting people trying to break in,” Moffitt told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday. The business has also lost parking and hears from customers how difficult it is to locate in the midst of downtown construction. “We’ve actually had to hire people to make maps just to be able to post for our patients to come down to us…. It’s getting far too confusing and far too costly for us to do these kinds of things,” Moffitt said. He feels let down by the city, who he says has failed to adequately plan and execute construction projects and improved safety measures. “I know police have said that they’re going to increase patrols, but we work here every day. I haven’t seen a single patrol come by here at all,” Moffitt said. Some of his concerns echo those of other downtown business owners who have announced they will soon be closing. On Wednesday, officials announced an 18-bed “stabilization” centre at Edmonton Police Service’s downtown headquarters, part of a larger effort to bolster addictions services in the capital region by 400 beds. “Eighteen beds is not going to make enough of a difference. It’ll help those 18 people,” Moffitt told CTV News Edmonton. On Wednesday, Mayor Andrew Knack said he has heard the concerns of downtown business operators. “Part of why we’re even doing this announcement today is to make sure people see that clear action because some of the concerns I’m hearing about are related to safety and security. This helps address that. We have separate work … around making sure we’re addressing construction practices and speeding up construction.” Knack said he expects more money to be put toward the downtown action plan to support businesses. “We are seeing the impacts of some of those closures and while we’ve also had about 10 businesses open up in the downtown … we need to support the ones that are just setting up (and) we need to support the ones that have been there for a long time.” With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Curtis Goodrum
