Tough time for retailers
Year starts with legal notices seizing property and closed stores
I strolled around downtown Campbellford the other day and came to the realization that for small businesses January is usually the cruelest month.
Many struggle to make it through the Christmas shopping season hoping they will do well enough to make up for shortages earlier in the year. Others are struggling just to get their operations up and running.
But landlords and suppliers usually get to the yearend and decide enough is enough. Their accountants demand action.
That message was driven home as I saw empty storefronts, a shuttered restaurant and the legal notices in a couple of windows. The notices warned the renters that they aren’t allowed back into the premises until they pay the thousands of dollars that they owed.
In one case, the outstanding rent for a potential restaurant that appears to be a long way from opening is $21,000. So, you can understand why landlords finally act.
The notice in the window of what was for a few months last fall a second-hand store at the corner of Bridge and Front Streets has the amount owed blacked out, but it’s a safe bet the total is more than the renter was making selling other people’s old stuff.
Most people are relying on Facebook Marketplace for such purchases and sales.
The closures and the troubles of the stores that are barely hanging on is unfortunate for the individuals and raises lots of questions about the communities where we live and what they will look like in coming years.
Just in the past few months: We Made It didn’t in Campbellford, although it flourishes in Cobourg, I gather.
The retail situation is much the same in Warkworth, Hastings and across the country, to be honest.
Last week in Hastings, Grey Jay Developments held a public meeting to outline its plans for properties on Front Street East. Some residents and councillors had complained that the plans did not show any retail on the ground level.
Given the current economic environment that really shouldn’t be a surprise. The developer’s representative said a final decision on retail or commercial space will depend on market conditions.
I always applaud the hope and persistence of those who open stores and try to turn a profit, but must confess that I don’t understand it. I am a confirmed non-shopper and one who rarely eats out, so I have little insight into what might succeed financially. If they are relying on people like me they will all go bankrupt.
But I have watched enough restaurants and stores come and go to know that the chances of success are terrible.
You can read all Trent Hills News stories on my website here.
This saddens but does not surprise me. As seniors we try to “shop local”, but other than the odd gift or printer ink what do we really need, except food? We’ve long ago decorated our homes and inherited more “antiques” than we know what to do with, and we prefer cooking to eating out. The younger generation is just trying to feed and house their families. On the other hand, landlords demand rent which feeds their pockets but doesn’t usually translate into making their storefronts more attractive. The few retail places that are making it might find themselves orphaned in a block of empty store fronts which doesn’t bode well for the tourist season. I wish there were more controls on the length of time a building can sit empty, and more innovative thinking on the future of this town.