wtf? Sabletine moving to the sububrs

[plam]

I just don't get it. Sabletine was a favourite stop of ours when biking from Waterloo to Kitchener, in midtown, right at the LRT stop (walkscore 93). They have moved to a location next to the highway on Lexington (walkscore 26) sometime in the past two years. The person at the register (with whom I had a somewhat animated discussion) thought they were doing better business at the new location because there was parking. What? Do the 10 condo buildings nearby not have residents that go to buy baked goods? I can see that the work space is better in a new build, sure, but who lives near there?

I guess there's still Vincenzo's. Sigh. I really am not thrilled about going to the new Sabletine location. It is mostly accessible off-road but the bit on Lexington, which is still off-road, is up a hill and next to a big road.

[Acitta]

I just don't get it. Sabletine was a favourite stop of ours when biking from Waterloo to Kitchener, in midtown, right at the LRT stop (walkscore 93). They have moved to a location next to the highway on Lexington (walkscore 26) sometime in the past two years. The person at the register (with whom I had a somewhat animated discussion) thought they were doing better business at the new location because there was parking. What? Do the 10 condo buildings nearby not have residents that go to buy baked goods? I can see that the work space is better in a new build, sure, but who lives near there?

I guess there's still Vincenzo's. Sigh. I really am not thrilled about going to the new Sabletine location. It is mostly accessible off-road but the bit on Lexington, which is still off-road, is up a hill and next to a big road.

Probably the old location is ripe for redevelopment and the rent may be cheaper at the new location. It is close to Conestoga Mall for those driving, so that is probably a factor. You can take the #31 bus, which runs between Conestoga Mall and UW Station to get there. Not as good as walking to the old location if you live uptown. I biked past there thousands of times and never bothered to drop in. What do they have that you recommend?

[danbrotherston]

I just don't get it. Sabletine was a favourite stop of ours when biking from Waterloo to Kitchener, in midtown, right at the LRT stop (walkscore 93). They have moved to a location next to the highway on Lexington (walkscore 26) sometime in the past two years. The person at the register (with whom I had a somewhat animated discussion) thought they were doing better business at the new location because there was parking. What? Do the 10 condo buildings nearby not have residents that go to buy baked goods? I can see that the work space is better in a new build, sure, but who lives near there?

I guess there's still Vincenzo's. Sigh. I really am not thrilled about going to the new Sabletine location. It is mostly accessible off-road but the bit on Lexington, which is still off-road, is up a hill and next to a big road.

Windshield bias...business owners (and people in general) make this mistake all the time, it is of zero surprise.

And in a suburban city like ours, it might even be less wrong than usual.

[plam]

I just don't get it. Sabletine was a favourite stop of ours when biking from Waterloo to Kitchener, in midtown, right at the LRT stop (walkscore 93). They have moved to a location next to the highway on Lexington (walkscore 26) sometime in the past two years. The person at the register (with whom I had a somewhat animated discussion) thought they were doing better business at the new location because there was parking. What? Do the 10 condo buildings nearby not have residents that go to buy baked goods? I can see that the work space is better in a new build, sure, but who lives near there?

I guess there's still Vincenzo's. Sigh. I really am not thrilled about going to the new Sabletine location. It is mostly accessible off-road but the bit on Lexington, which is still off-road, is up a hill and next to a big road.

Probably the old location is ripe for redevelopment and the rent may be cheaper at the new location. It is close to Conestoga Mall for those driving, so that is probably a factor. You can take the #31 bus, which runs between Conestoga Mall and UW Station to get there. Not as good as walking to the old location if you live uptown. I biked past there thousands of times and never bothered to drop in. What do they have that you recommend?

It's likely that the rent is cheaper. Would you really stop at Sabletine after coming from the mall? That's not how driving works. Cookies, croissants (not as good as Ambrosia in the before times, but I haven't tried Aura-La, which Ambrosia rebranded to), macarons, quiches.

[Acitta]

Probably the old location is ripe for redevelopment and the rent may be cheaper at the new location. It is close to Conestoga Mall for those driving, so that is probably a factor. You can take the #31 bus, which runs between Conestoga Mall and UW Station to get there. Not as good as walking to the old location if you live uptown. I biked past there thousands of times and never bothered to drop in. What do they have that you recommend?

It's likely that the rent is cheaper. Would you really stop at Sabletine after coming from the mall? That's not how driving works. Cookies, croissants (not as good as Ambrosia in the before times, but I haven't tried Aura-La, which Ambrosia rebranded to), macarons, quiches.

I imagine that they had regular customers who drove to the old location, so it may not be an inconvenience for them to drive to the new location if they consider their products to be worth it.

[jwilliamson]

We used to go to the old location occasionally. The new location is way too inconvenient; we've never been back since they moved.

[plam]

We used to go to the old location occasionally. The new location is way too inconvenient; we've never been back since they moved.

Yeah, I feel that way too. Objectively the location isn't that much further from my place but the bike ride isn't that interesting; it is pretty green, but there's a bit of a uphill ride near the location. And midtown is just closer to other things.

[nms]

So the suburbs can't have access to good food?

They have done incredibly well in their new location. They have been adopted by the neighbourhood and attracted a whole new clientele. We discovered Sabletine about 15 years ago in their old location when it was only half the size (ie only the lower bakery space when the vintage store was in the other half). The new location offered about four to six times the prep space (not to mention air conditioning) and probably double the display space for their goods. It pairs nicely with the Fromagerie a few doors down. I am glad that they did not try to maintain two locations and I doubt that they could have found a large enough space along the LRT spine for their needs. It took Vincenzo's nearly 50 years before they were strong enough to stock and maintain their large space in the Bauer Lofts.

Given that Sabletine's last day at their old location was around early March 2020, and their scheduled first day of business was somewhere around April 2020, it's remarkable that they were able to keep going and open more or less on time.

This plaza had been slated for demolition and inclusion in the Hygate project next door. From what I heard, Hygate needed the money and sold off the property. It was so close to demolition, when Sabletine needed to hook up their phone line, all of the telephone infrastructure had been removed from the building so a new line had to be run from the closest community distribution point.

[danbrotherston]

So the suburbs can't have access to good food?

They have done incredibly well in their new location.  They have been adopted by the neighbourhood and attracted a whole new clientele.  We discovered Sabletine about 15 years ago in their old location when it was only half the size (ie only the lower bakery space when the vintage store was in the other half).  The new location offered about four to six times the prep space (not to mention air conditioning) and probably double the display space for their goods.  It pairs nicely with the Fromagerie a few doors down.  I am glad that they did not try to maintain two locations and I doubt that they could have found a large enough space along the LRT spine for their needs.  It took Vincenzo's nearly 50 years before they were strong enough to stock and maintain their large space in the Bauer Lofts.

Given that Sabletine's last day at their old location was around early March 2020, and their scheduled first day of business was somewhere around April 2020, it's remarkable that they were able to keep going and open more or less on time. 

This plaza had been slated for demolition and inclusion in the Hygate project next door.  From what I heard, Hygate needed the money and sold off the property.  It was so close to demolition, when Sabletine needed to hook up their phone line, all of the telephone infrastructure had been removed from the building so a new line had to be run from the closest community distribution point.

Nobody here thinks the suburbs shouldn’t have good access to food, in fact our suburbs generally do. The problem is that suburbs generally don’t support local businesses very well. The location that sabletines has moved to is not a location that is walkable for many people, and is not pleasantly walkable for anyone. This means that everyone who goes there will be in a car. Since they are in a car they can easily reach a larger full service store, anyone of our superstores for example. As a result it is extremely difficult for small local businesses to compete because they will always be more expensive. They must have an extremely strong brand presence to attract people  to make an additional trip to those small stores.

Small businesses do much better in walkable areas. But you will not find anyone here who doesn’t support making the suburbs more walkable.

[myfaceisonfire]

I live very close to here, on Whitmore, and the location has been a blessing for us.   It's so nice to be able to walk over in the mornings (when there is consistently a line) and pick up some snacks for breakfast.   The fromagerie and convenience store are also welcome additions.   Obviously I'm bias because I'm a member of these suburbs, but I see no problem with the new location .

For reference, we lived at William and Avondale uptown for 10 years and moved here 8 years ago to accommodate a growing family, sure I miss the hustle and bustle but it really hasn't been as cataclysmic as some people seem to make moving to 'the suburbs' out to be.   Do I miss the convenience of living uptown?  Sure.  But do I welcome strip malls like the one Sabletine's moved into?   Sure!   One other thing about Waterloo is that even the suburbs are only a 10 minute bike ride from city hall, and that is taking the long route through hillside park and other trails.

[SF22]

It's likely that the rent is cheaper. Would you really stop at Sabletine after coming from the mall? That's not how driving works. Cookies, croissants (not as good as Ambrosia in the before times, but I haven't tried Aura-La, which Ambrosia rebranded to), macarons, quiches.

I imagine that they had regular customers who drove to the old location, so it may not be an inconvenience for them to drive to the new location if they consider their products to be worth it.

I know this comment is from March, but just in case you haven't made it over to Aura-La yet, it was literally just a name change from Ambrosia! Same amazing everything as always, same owner, just a slightly different interior layout and a new sign out front.