Business owners in Medicine Hat’s downtown unite over challenges, blame city

But the group says lagging construction and increases to property taxes, utilities, business licenses and operations in the city has made it all the more difficult to bounce back.

“We just wanted to come together and maybe share our stories and see if we could maybe find a different outcome to some of the results that we’re seeing,” van Maarion said.

Sabrina Moore, owner of Kollektiv, was another owner at the table Tuesday night.

Several downtown small business owners say they are uniting to better advocate for the challenges they face. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

In December, Moore came before council to speak out against what she sees as a flawed energy bylaw that unfairly punishes her business for brief spikes in electricity.

Moore is estimating that a rate reclassification in the summer of 2024 will add $5,000 to her electricity bills over the course of a year.

She had no idea ahead of time.

“My problem is the transparency at the city level,” Moore said in a recent interview.

“I submitted load calculations, we paid for our permits, and not once was a conversation had that this could impact my bill or that we would be potentially rate reclassified as a result.”

Moore’s electricity rate issue was sent to a council committee where a jurisdictional scan will be carried out before returning to council with potential solutions.

Utility rates aren’t the only municipality-controlled problem businesses downtown have faced recently.

For Casa Amigos, where owners met Tuesday, seemingly endless construction has diluted its customer base to the point where they needed to shorten hours for the time being.

Co-owner Chris Pichet said in a recent interview the lunch crowd has dried up in the months since the summer when the road outside the restaurant’s front door was torn up from May until July.

“The construction from last year really hurt us, and it seemed like it just continued on throughout the whole year,” Pichet said.

Some of the Third Street Southeast infrastructure work still needs to be completed in the spring and that’s expected to continue impacting the restaurant, according to Pichet. There is also more construction expected in 2026.

Pichet said he understands why it’s needed but says he expects more from the city.

“I feel like somehow we should be compensated on something for loss of revenue, like a reduction on our utilities,” he said.

Several downtown small business owners warned there could be closures last summer.

Moose and Squirrel Bistro owner Carrie Densaw told CHAT News in July 2024 that declining foot traffic would trigger further closures.

The bar and restaurant, less than two weeks after the interview, shuttered its regular operations, citing a “significant decline in visitors to the downtown core”.

Densaw said then that the city was failing to attract those passing by on the Trans-Canada Highway into Medicine Hat.

Other businesses were able to survive the construction season.

While Isaac’s Barbershop, Cafe Verv and Mexican Hat were all listed as for sale or had signs showing closures over the summer months, they each remain open today.

The city last summer offered dedicated parking, free opportunities to attend block parties and cost-sharing for advertising on television, radio and print.

It’s not the first time owners have banded together in an advocacy effort.

The now-inactive City Centre Development Agency was launched at the outset of the pandemic with the aim of drawing people downtown.

While the owners aren’t sure if they will formalize a new organization like CCDA, they do want to work together in what they called a united front.

Van Maarion says customers and owners alike should advocate and support downtown businesses.

“The root of all community and heart of our community is in small businesses, and especially downtown where it is the centre of our city,” she said.

“Without these businesses being here, it will be a tragic loss.”

by Eli J. Ridder

Business owners in Medicine Hat’s downtown unite over challenges, blame city

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