There are three stores that we know are making changes this April.
Stewarts relocating
Stewarts Quality Footwear on Gerrish Street is moving from downtown Windsor to Wentworth Road, near the Hearth Stone gift shop.
Stewart Benedict, owner of Stewarts Quality Footwear, said the move came sooner than expected, but he was planning to leave the downtown core regardless.
“The building is structurally unsound, it needs a new roof, so I need to be out by the end of April,” Benedict said. “I knew if I ever did move, I knew I’d move to Wentworth Road.”
Benedict said a lack of parking spots and lower traffic on the street since the exodus of grocery and liquor stores has had an impact on his business.
“The last few years, business has been down,” he said. “This winter has been terrible as well.”
Frenchy’s closing up shop
The Frenchy’s location on Morrison Drive will be closing “near the end of April,” according to a post on their Facebook page. They plan to stay open for as long as they have new stock to put out.
The store has been in operation for 17 years.
Needs no more?
The long-running Needs Convenience store is closing up shop on April 12, a spokesperson from Sobeys confirmed. The store is located at the corner of Wentworth Road and O’Brien Street in Windsor.
An employee at the store said staff are being laid off. The employee added a new Needs store could pop up at the Petro Canada gas station on Wentworth Road, near the roundabout.
Sobeys' spokesperson Shauna Selig confirmed April 8 that the company will be reopening.
"Windsor is an important community for us to have a presence in, so although we are closing this Needs location, we are reopening in Vaughan’s Market at the Petro Canada," Selig said in an email. "The sign should go up on the building over the next few weeks."
Because the location closing is a franchise store, she said Sobeys couldn't speak to arrangements for the employees.
WBES still optimistic about Windsor
Wendy Geddes, who owns Reader’s Haven on Water Street and is the chair of the Windsor Business Enhancement Society, says just because there are stores relocating or closing, the outlook isn’t grim for Windsor.
“One thing that surprises me about this area is how negative people are,” Geddes said. “I’m not blind, we see the empty stores, we do what we can to turn things around and encourage people to come here.”
“Every small town in Nova Scotia is finding it rough right now,” she said. “I firmly believe that people still like good service. People need to get over their obsession with big box stores. All they do is put small businesses out of business.”
Geddes said she thinks there’s a lot of good stuff going on behind the scenes, including the Waterfront Development Committee, Avon River Days and more. She also said that there could be two new businesses opening up on Gerrish Street soon, but couldn’t provide more details beyond that.
“I think this town has a lot of potential,” she said. “I know we don’t have a lot of stores downtown right now, but we need to get into them and shop before they’re all gone or we’ll be the next ghost town.”
Know of more retail moves? Email [email protected] with tips.
