Mall no more Bustling Graham Avenue much more than just a transit hub thanks to new businesses, residential developments By: Martin Cash Posted: 7:00 PM CST Friday, Dec. 14, 2018

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This article was published 13/12/2018 (2205 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A little more than 20 years ago, a stretch of Graham Avenue was blocked off from vehicular traffic and reserved exclusively for transit buses, becoming known as the Graham Mall.

There are still about 1,800 buses a day moving about 60,000 people into the downtown along Graham, but the concept of the Graham Mall is changing as is the dynamic of downtown.

The Downtown Biz released a report in the summer that noted that people see the strip as something more than just a transit hub and, among other things, recommended that it be once again referred to as Graham Avenue.

Regardless of what it’s called, there are more new businesses opening and major developments looming that are going to be transformative.

Bell MTS Place is already responsible for bringing one million people per year to events downtown.

One of the city’s fastest growing enterprises, 24-7 Intouch, is outgrowing its corporate headquarters on Kennedy Street and the company and its founders have acquired several properties along Graham Avenue. The company is in renovating the three-storey Hudson Building for additional corporate office space.

People will start moving into 200 new apartments this summer when the True North Square residential tower is completed. Artis REIT is building a 40-storey apartment building at the eastern end of Graham Avenue and on Kennedy Street the old Medical Arts building is being renovated to mixed use with as many as 100 residential units.

In the last couple of years, a number of well-known local businesses such as Clay Oven and Shawarma Khan have started opening on Graham Avenue. The neighborhood may have recently experienced a rare Starbucks closure at its former Kennedy and Graham location but local cafe operator Thom Bargen was already established across the street.

Brad King, the Cushman and Wakefield leasing agent on the old Starbucks location, said the space has been leased by a dentist from the Medical Arts Building and construction is set to begin soon.

A couple of months ago, the lifestyle wares shop called June set up in the adjoining space to Thom Bargen and street traffic is picking up. Two years ago, Bruce Smedts moved his White Star Diner from the Exchange District to the same block of Kennedy Street and is filling up the 44-seat diner every day.

Obby Khan, the owner of Shawarma Khan, said people told him he was crazy when he opened his shop on McDermot Avenue in the Exchange District.

“Now look at the Exchange. It’s booming now. There’s lots of street traffic,” Khan said. “I really believe Graham is already doing that. That’s why I invested a lot of money opening another store on Graham because that is what is going to be happening there as well.”

Kate Fenske, the new CEO of the Downtown Biz, said Graham Avenue is one of the pivotal neighbourhoods downtown that is experiencing a modern renaissance.

“There’s going to be 1,000 residential units added in the very near future on this stretch. It’s very exciting,” she said. “Yes, it’s about the tax base and growth. But it’s more about the energy and vibrancy and having people and life on the streets downtown. I see that as a game changer.”

Graham Bargen, one of the partners of the three-location Thom Bargen cafe chain, said the Starbucks closure has not hurt his business.

“It has opened up new eyes to our shop,” he said. “We’re building new relationships and while we don’t wish harm on anyone we have seen a bump in business.”

He said they’re happy to be on Graham Avenue and thankful people have been open-minded to experience some local fare.

“People have a funny perspective about coffee shops that you just open and it’s automatically busy and easy,” he said. “But busy is what surviving looks like. You have to be busy. It’s not an option.”

It’s not likely that a global brand like Starbucks would even know how to create a space that would accommodate the partnership that Thom Bargen and the June boutique now enjoy.

“We’re so happy with June being there,” he said. “They are a cool success story and we feel the partnership and esthetic vibe is perfect.”

Joel and Danielle Cyr, the husband and wife team who own June, had a thriving on-line business for more than three years.

“We always figured a retail location was on the table, but the timing was never right or the rent was too high or the location was wrong,” said Joel Cyr. “This time the timing was right and the location was right. Everything just sort of worked out.”

They wanted to design a space that didn’t make people think they were in a store and being attached to friendly cafe helped.

While they were an exclusively on-line store they were shipping their unique line of natural cleaning products and beautiful, simple housewares across Canada and the U.S. but weren’t selling much in their home town.

“We realized we have a market here that we have not really explored yet or tapped into,” he said.

Setting up in a neighborhood that is starting to come into its own suits them in that they are already part of a trend in retailing that is moving in the opposite direction of traditional retail practice. Instead of going into e-commerce to boost sales from the bricks and mortar operations, they are using a street location to enhance an already established on-line presence.

It bodes well for the future success of the Graham Avenue strip that much of the new investment is coming from local operators who believe in the possibility of a vibrant downtown core.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Martin Cash
Reporter

Martin Cash has been writing a column and business news at the Free Press since 1989. Over those years he’s written through a number of business cycles and the rise and fall (and rise) in fortunes of many local businesses.

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