Stony Plain Road businesses hoping to whip up more customers with dining week

Restaurants on Stony Plain Road are inviting Edmontonians back to check out what they have to offer amid LRT construction.

Restaurants along Stony Plain Road in Edmonton are hoping to gain exposure with a dining week promotion as LRT construction continues to eat up traffic to businesses in the area.

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The Stony Plain Road Business Association has brought back SPR Dining Week for a second year. More than 20 eateries are participating, providing discounted dishes to try and bring customers back.

“Our guests are just stuck in traffic, right? So they’re going to other places,” said Percy Wiredu, owner of El Corazòn.

Wiredu said his Latin restaurant has seen a 60 per cent drop in customers this year – up from 40 per cent last year – and he said the ongoing construction has been a major road block to his business and others in the neighbourhood.

“It’s a resilient group of business owners around here, but the construction has been a challenge,” Wiredu said.

City crews are continuing to build the Valley Line West, which will run a 14-kilometre route between downtown and Lewis Estates. The construction has partially closed sections of Stony Plain at 149 Street as work on the intersection began in August to make way for the east-west LRT line.

Construction of the LRT line began three years ago and is slated to be completed by 2028. Testing will follow the end of construction.

Justin Keats of the business association told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday that the dining event is meant to highlight eateries in the area that have faced construction challenges along with “lulls” multiplied by Covid-19, inflation and tariffs.

“It’s about finding space within all this chaos,” Keats explained.

“If we put our best foot forward and if we try to do something that engages our local consumers … it leads to a broader, more connected community,” he said. “Dining week is one piece of the puzzle in doing that.”

CH Cafeteria, a café serving Mexican flavours, is another restaurant participating in SPR dining week. Owner Victor Duarte said he is frustrated with the City of Edmonton and the construction delays.

“They kill … several businesses that are the ones supporting the taxes of the city,” he told CTV News Edmonton.

“People continue coming, but even our regulars are having a hard time getting in.”

Duarte said his message to both officials and customers is to “save the nice businesses that are out there.”

The business association is hoping people will be encouraged to support the area businesses during dining week, which starts Thursday and runs until Oct. 12. A full list of participating restaurants and menus are listed on their website.

People can also enter a draw to win one of three $100 gift cards by completing an online survey.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Marek Tkach, Sean McClune and Craig Ellingson