Major construction was a pain for quite some time for many businesses in Calgary’s Marda Loop neighbourhood.
But completion of construction finally has businesses, from retailers to restaurants to services, optimistic about the future and the return of consumers, many of whom had shied away from the district.
“Marda Loop has always been one of Calgary’s most dynamic and diverse neighbourhoods,” said Bob van Wegen, Executive Director at Marda Loop Business Improvement Area (BIA). “With the major construction behind us, we’re excited to welcome Calgarians back to shop, dine, and explore. Every visit supports local businesses and strengthens our city’s economy.”
For the past few years, about 200 local businesses had to be resilient in the face of construction and infrastructure upgrades.
“For us, Marda Loop isn’t just a place to run a business, it’s where we connect with our neighbours, celebrate milestones, and create experiences people remember,” said Paul Morissette, owner of Fresh Kitchen, who is also President of the Marda Loop BIA Board of Directors “After weathering the challenges of the past few years, it feels incredible to look out our front door and see people enjoying the sidewalks, patios, and energy of the street again. This community has a renewed spark, and we can’t wait to be part of its next chapter.”
His business has been around for about 17 years.
Morissette said it’s been a tumultuous couple of years, for sure, for business owners.
“We (BIA) represent over 200 businesses and services in the business area, and it’s impacted retailers and I’m also a retailer that has been affected by it, with year over year, customer count decreases. People just don’t want to risk coming the neighborhood anymore because traffic, construction woes, parking issues and stuff like that. So we’ve seen some retailers go and for sure, it’s a sad situation, but we also, because of the vibrancy of that neighbourhood, the popularity of that neighborhood, we’ve seen businesses come in too. So it’s not all doom and gloom for sure,” he said.
“It’s still a very positive place to do business. And we’re also quite excited now that construction is wrapping up to get back to those customer accounts, and putting Marda Loop back on top of mind, where it’s a great, vibrant place to shop in Calgary.”
What needs to be done when it comes to city construction in business areas?
“I think the best thing that we can probably ask for is clear and concise communication right from the parties involved, whether it’s the City of Calgary or their subcontractors or contractors. I know the Marda Loop BIA as an advocate for the businesses in the neighbourhood, that’s all we really sought, to open up the lines of communication to get realistic deadlines, realistic timelines involved, things like that,” explained Morissette.
So I think construction in its form is disruptive, Renovation is disruptive. So all we can try to do is minimize that in the best way, by just getting a true and realistic timeline from the people involved. And that can be a challenge, for sure, because you’re at the whim of weather, you’re at the whim of labour issues, who knows. But at the end of the day, we’re still businesses trying to exist. And minimizing that from going forward would be the biggest thing you could ask for.”
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