Dalhousie Street's retail renaissance hits rough patch

Three years ago, independent retailers on a stretch of Dalhousie Street in Ottawa's Lowertown district decided to band together, organizing themselves into a group called "North Dal" in an effort to boost their common brand.

For a while, it seemed like the strategy was working. Trendy boutiques became shopping destinations, and the strip appeared to undergo something of a rebirth.

But when you walk down that stretch of Dalhousie Street today, it's marked by empty storefronts and "For Lease" signs.

So what happened?

Past and present North Dalhousie retail owners spoke to CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning about the apparent decline.

Katie Frappier, Victoire

Victoire opened up its first store on Dalhousie Street 12 years ago. Since then, co-owners Katie Frappier and Régine Paquette have moved to two other locations on Dalhousie, opened a store on Wellington West and another in Toronto, and have increased the Victoire's online sales. 

Juggling three stores and an online shop soon spread their resources too thin, so they reduced their bricks and mortar business to the Wellington West location. But Frappier said Dalhousie Street was the perfect location to get started. 

"It was kind of off the beaten track enough that you were able to do things your own way, make things happen, with the safety of knowing that you have room to fail, which was an amazing thing that North Dalhousie provided us with," she said. 

But a couple of other factors — the Rideau Centre expansion taking shoppers away from the ByWard Market, and crime in the neighbourhood — have made it difficult for retail owners on Dalhousie.

Foot traffic declined and fewer parked cars lined the street.

Despite leaving, Frappier said North Dalhousie will always have a special place in her heart, and the Victoire team would return there if money allowed it. 

Yannick Beauvalet, L'HEXAGONE

"The rents are still quite reasonable," said Yannick Beauvalet, co-owner of menswear store L'HEXAGONE. "So if you want to open a retail store, which doesn't generate as much money as let's say a restaurant or a bar or a nightclub, you have to have a reasonable rent because you're gonna have ups and downs. The retail market in general is very difficult."

Beauvalet, who has been working in retail in the neighbourhood since he was 13, said crime near Dalhousie Street is a concern, even though the perception doesn't always match reality.

He agreed that the Rideau Centre expansion is an added challenge for retailers, and mall patrons tend not to migrate north to the Market.

That means shoppers who want to keep local, independent businesses alive need to vote with their dollars, he said.

"Ultimately the Market is going to be what we make it. If people come and shop here for food, there'll be food retailers, there'll be more of them. If people come and shop for clothing, there'll be more clothing retailers," Beauvalet said. 

"The Market has been the heart of the city for a long, long time. It's not going away. It's going to change and it's going to evolve. It's not the same as it was 20, 25 years ago. But it's going to be what we make it."

Christina Ballhorn, Workshop

Christina Ballhorn co-owns women's clothing shop Workshop, which has had many neighbours in it's 13 years on North Dalhousie. 

Ballhorn sees the empty storefronts currently dotting the retail strip as a stage in a cycle.

"When we started and a few other boutiques came in, it was like, OK, there's this new thing and everyone's excited about the new. And then people kind of forget and some businesses closed, and then new businesses came in. We've seen that cycle go through a couple times," Ballhorn said.

"It's definitely unfortunate that so many of our awesome neighbours no longer have boutiques here, she said. Everybody has a different story as to why they're not here. People made decisions for various reasons. A lot of leases came up at the same time. As much as it's sad ... there will be new people coming with new fresh ideas. And hopefully the cycle will just continue"

Jessica Wilson-Franken, Goods

Jessica Wilson-Franken opened Goods and started selling Canadian-made gifts and household items in 2015, it seemed like a good move. Rent was affordable and the street was humming with activity.

Three years later, hers is one of the businesses with a "For Lease" sign in the window.

Still, Wilson-Franken doesn't see it as part of a bigger downward trend, but as more of a coincidence: a number of leases ended around the same time and store owners moved on to other ventures, including starting families.

"My reaction isn't as strong as some people's would be because I know that the area will constantly be turning over," she said. "It's always going to be a little bit lower in rent than the rest of the Market ... I'm sure those places will get filled."

Krista Evans and Caitie Paine, The Stalk Market

One of those new places is The Stalk Market, a flower and plant shop opening later this month.

The store's owners, Krista Evans and Caitie Paine, said the neighbourhood fits them perfectly, and that they're providing something the ByWard Market needs: a flower shop that's not a market stall.

"I think it's filling a void," Evans said.

Paine said they've talked to other store owners who are happy The Stalk Market is moving in, and hopeful it will attract more shoppers to the street.

"Because this particular unit was vacant, people walked past it. Nothing caught their eye to draw them down the street."