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01-16-2018, 03:56 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-16-2018, 03:57 PM by danbrotherston.)
(01-16-2018, 03:34 PM)creative Wrote: I’ve never run my own business so I don’t feel that I am qualified to comment on someone else’s circumstance who has been doing this so for a long period of time.
“Still, if they can't sell organic home made food to the type of people who like to live an urban lifestyle, well, maybe it is time for new retail blood.”
Just plain cold and thoughtless.
"cold" sure..."thoughtless"...not at all. Business environments have changed, but it's very clear that the growing demographic trends in uptown are MORE interested in organic locally sourced food, not less. For goodness sakes, there've been dozens of newspaper articles written about how that trend is killing x or y or z.
So, am I being cold, absolutely I am. I'm frustrated and so entirely done with people who will simply slag the LRT for no reason, and blame all their troubles on it.
But it's not thoughtless.
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She states a long list of reasons for closing her business that included the LRT construction and loss of parking convenient to her store. But you obviously know more about her business than she does.
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Businesses close and new ones open all the time, it's completely normal and expected. Lets not get fixated on this non-issue.
So no news on more testing?
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(01-16-2018, 04:41 PM)creative Wrote: She states a long list of reasons for closing her business that included the LRT construction and loss of parking convenient to her store. But you obviously know more about her business than she does.
The "lost" parking lot is still there and only at 80% peak capacity on Saturdays, or 70% on weekdays. There is street parking across King St. There is a private parking lot behind the business. You don't have to own the business itself to poke holes in some of the reasoning.
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(01-16-2018, 08:19 AM)MidTowner Wrote: I also didn't understand how "home-made cookies" are incompatible with "high-rise condos."
Someone just the other day was telling me he was speaking to the owner of a sports store now closing its doors, and the owner was blaming LRT. He didn't seem to have any other factors he was blaming (though I am receiving this second-hand), and apparently claimed that the year before construction started was a banner year.
It's usually pointless to argue against things like some of the claims made in that letter. I do think it's sad to see businesses go under, though.
I'm guessing she's suggesting that those moving into 'high-rise condos' have no need (or time!) home-made cookies.
As for that sports store...who knows. I'm sure for any store closing there are a lot of factors, and perhaps lost business to the LRT is just the final straw.
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O.W. Sports said their peak sales period was getting shorter and shorter and similar stores were closing all over Ontario, and they wanted to get out before being forced through bankruptcy. Also worth noting MEC was opening in Kitchener a few months later.
https://www.therecord.com/news-story/711...rloo-core/
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Watch for more testing later this week, just up North though.
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(01-16-2018, 05:36 PM)Canard Wrote: Watch for more testing later this week, just up North though.
Ahh. When would you guess we'll see powered testing?
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I now have a desk that overlooks the Uptown platform. I was kinda hoping to see an LRV pulled past sooner rather than later.
Ah well, later can be sooner than y'think, I guess.
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(01-16-2018, 04:41 PM)creative Wrote: She states a long list of reasons for closing her business that included the LRT construction and loss of parking convenient to her store. But you obviously know more about her business than she does.
Well put. She did list multiple factors with perhaps an emphasis on the LRT construction and changes to the parking as being the primary reasons to retire. I am not surprised by this at all. I know my spending along the the LRT construction route dropped by 90% during the past couple of years as I would consciously avoid those areas. Not sure how many others may have stepped up their spending to offset that. Perhaps if they decided to continue they would reap the benefits of the LRT but I fully understand why someone would throw in the towel as they probably burned through a lot of their savings.
And now that construction is over I've started going back to uptown and DTK but my spending there is still probably at only 25% of what it was pre-construction. The construction was a big disruption that broke my routine and so I found alternatives that are in other parts of the city and now I have a new routine. Not sure my spending in Uptown and DTK will return to 100% of pre-construction levels - not out of spite or anything other than the inertia of following my newly established routines.
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Yeah, there were multiple reasons listed, and probably a better summary of personal experiences than anything. I know everyone is sensitive about defending LRT, but sometimes a mile long walk in someone else's shoes gives a different perspective (such as I interpret this to be) . It's not just about a new train in a few years, it could be day-after-day of an increasingly difficult struggle to maintain a passionate hope, but after a while the risk outweighs the reward and you need to fish or cut bait.
So to get (more) back on topic: during LRT testing, when I see the pics/videos in this thread I like to think they've got some train related songs blasting over the PA in that empty train. Train Kept a Rollin etc.
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I don't think discussion about the effects of LRT on uptown businesses and whether the closure of businesses can be blamed on the construction is off topic. It almost always comes up in discussions about the LRT off site, after all, and is one of the top reasons people opposed and oppose the project.
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This morning I suddenly sat straight up in my chair when I saw the crossing arms come down in front of Cora in Uptown Waterloo. Thought they might have been taking advantage of the clear weather to pull an LRV all the way down here.
But no. It was just the long crossing arms being tested. Even the short ones further towards the valu mart were left up.
Ah well.
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I saw them testing the ones at Seagram when I was out at lunch time. Maybe this is a precursor to something happening soon?
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