Pandemic. E-commerce and megacenters. Inflation. Labor shortage. There is no shortage of traumatic shocks for the shopping streets of Quebec. With the series Our streets on foot, The duty therefore evaluates in walking mode the resilience of some of them. Third walk: the peak of the Well, in Verdun.
On a sunny July afternoon, the large banner above Wellington Drive reflects the ambient climate: “Hello beautiful days”. Here, it is the playground of many scooters, whose drivers parade like peacocks in the center of the artery, between bicycles and passers-by.
One of them is Roland Clément, owner of a “double bécyk”. “I usually walk with my girlfriend here,” he explains, revealing a small bench hidden under the main seat.
“We are so happy with our street here, exclaims the man who wears a small cross over his blue t-shirt, while his friends, also on board small racing cars, approve of this statement. We love the decorations, the swings, the stores… Everything they do. »
Obviously, this daily explorer of the Well, who has lived in the area for forty years, is not the only one to appreciate the pedestrianized street. The temporary wooden furniture is occupied by families, young professionals armed with their computers and the elderly, who observe the passers-by. Children run on the drawings of animals that adorn the roadway.
In a smell of fresh paint, the curious gather around artists who create live, on a wooden panel, a blue and turquoise mural, on which a Moon and a planet come alive. “We were very inspired by the NASA photos yesterday, so we started on something a little galactic,” says the feminist graffiti artist who responds to the name of Moule.
The terraces of restaurants, cafes and bars are busy. Mothers do their shopping with their pushchairs, in fairly diverse shops, from delicatessens to fashion boutiques and bookstores.
“The only thing missing is a children’s linen store,” notes Daniel Barsalou, dressed in a Jack Daniel’s t-shirt and comfortably seated on his red scooter. Father of five daughters and grandfather of 14 grandchildren, he is therefore obliged to periodically stop by Walmart or the mall.
In good health
As everywhere, the pandemic has hurt some traders, but most survived with minor injuries. Restaurants have closed, but others have taken their place. Finally, there are very few vacant premises.
“We have a business that adapts really well to take-out mode and teleworking, reports the owner of the Station W café, Simon Defoy. For a neighborhood resident, it’s fun to get a coffee before settling down at your home office or going out for lunch to see people while ordering a sandwich. »
The story is different at the other end of Wellington Street, nearly 4 km further on, on the outskirts of Old Montreal. Existing since the XVIIe century, this road was created to connect Ville-Marie, the ancestor of Montreal, to Lachine, a center of the fur trade.
“This street has had a phenomenal importance in the development of Montreal,” says Taïka Baillargeon, Deputy Director of Policy at Héritage Montréal.
Today, the northeast end of the thoroughfare is in the Cité du multimedia, the headquarters of many information technology companies. This is also where the Monopole café has been located for five years, on the ground floor of a residential building. In the early years, says co-owner Ngoc-an Trinh, the demand for lunch was very high.
“There was not a large supply of independent cafes and restaurants compared to the density of workers in the surrounding offices”, underlines Mme Trinh, whose shop with a warm and trendy look turns into a refreshment bar in the evening.
But its turnover has plummeted with the pandemic and hasn’t quite recovered, especially during the day, as workers now operate on a hybrid basis. If interesting businesses were established around her, a greater clientele would be attracted to the area in the evening, she believes.
An industrial sector
A world separates his side of rue Wellington from that of Verdun. First there is the wide boulevard Robert-Bourassa, with its iconic white sculpture named Source. Then we arrive in Griffintown, where there are mainly restaurant and furniture chains. Conviviality is compromised by the regular passage of trucks from the industrial zone, on the other side of the viaduct.
The walker must then follow, for about 750 meters, the five-storey wall of containers from the transhipment company Ray-Mont Logistiques. Here, no business is established in its shadow, apart from a car wash and a locksmith. However, the district could change radically in the coming years, since the real estate developer Devimco, which acquired the land, dreams of building housing and commercial spaces there.
The next steps take us to Pointe-Saint-Charles, where Wellington Street crosses a residential area dotted with a few cafes and bakeries. But it is at the corner of rue Regina, in Verdun, that the street is completely transformed, becoming colorful and lively.
This is where the Maçonnerie Gratton has set up shop. The president, Tommy Bouillon, recalls that the district has evolved a lot since his arrival eight years ago. The clientele is younger than before, as are the new merchants who have worked to energize the street.
Verdun les Bains
Mr. Bouillon’s company has also repaired the facade of several of its neighbours. “Many businesses were obsolete,” reports the businessman, in his premises clad in beautiful stones and bricks. The latter says “prioritize the people of Verdun” in his choice of contracts.
Most traders believe that the shift began about ten years ago. They attribute this in particular to the efforts and vision of the Société de développement commercial (SDC) Wellington, a non-profit organization that is at the origin of most street animation projects.
Its new general manager, Patrick Mainville, has always lived in Verdun. “When I was young, there was almost an embarrassment to say that we came from Verdun, he says. Wellington Street had lost its momentum with the arrival of Carrefour Angrignon and other shopping centers. But the buzz returned. »
What is the Wellington secret? First, there is its proximity to the water’s edge, believes Mr. Mainville, who describes the artery as boardwalk of the St. Lawrence River. The development of the beach, in 2019, would also contribute to the popularity of the district.
The advent of bars, which were banned until 2015 in Verdun, also helps keep consumers in the neighborhood in the evening. It was the Benelux microbrewery that opened the ball in 2013, authorized to sell only beer brewed on site.
In 2022, despite the pandemic, several traders believe that the Well has reached its peak. Of course, there is a flip side to this coin. Commercial and residential rents have risen excessively.
“It’s always worrying. If the owners are too greedy, at some point, only the big chains will be able to pay these rents, ”says Mr. Defoy, from the Station W café.
It is also desirable to maintain a diversity in the types of businesses, in order to meet the needs of residents. Mr. Defoy notes, like many others, that a growing number of restaurants are elbowing the streets.
To see how the merchants speak with love and pride of their almost seaside corner of the country, there is no doubt that they will take care to protect the balance of its ecosystem.