St-Denis Street opens one month early but businesses say damage is done

It’s a sight to behold: St-Denis Street completely opened with no orange cones in sight after almost a year of construction.

Merchants say something else is gone too.

“St-Denis has lost its soul and there’s no financial break that will bring it back,” Dan Walfish, owner of Style&Ease clothing, said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "St-Denis has lost its soul and there's no financial break that will bring it back," Dan Walfish, owner of Style&Ease clothing, said.

Businesspeople say they’ve been hit hard by construction and the street re-opening one month early is only a small victory.

READ MORE: St-Denis construction causing woes for merchants

Walfish said they were initially attracted by cheap rent and heavy foot traffic.

What they didn’t expect is the amount of construction they would have to deal with.

“It’s really been the last two and a half years,” he said. “We put so much energy into the shop, we built it from the ground up. As we were building the shop they were preparing to do construction so it was horrible timing.”

Work on the street started in fall 2015.

Crews replaced pipes, wiring, lampposts and repaved the street.

Shoppers say it was reason enough to stay away.

“I try to go to restaurants but it’s really busy and there’s a lot of noise and it’s not very comfortable,” said shopper Isabelle Masson.

READ MORE: Hachoir restaurant owner opens new ‘terrace’ in face of Montreal construction

Merchants say after 10 months of construction, they just want to recoup their losses.

“I was talking to merchants left and right… far left and far right because everyone close is for rent now or vacant spaces,” Walfish said. “Everyone experienced a drop in sales.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I was talking to merchants left and right… far left and far right because everyone close is for rent now or vacant spaces," Walfish said. "Everyone experienced a drop in sales."

Now new businesses are setting up shop where old ones went under.

“It was all vacant during the construction so it must have been hard for the previous owner to pay $31,000 in taxes,” Julian Regargui, a new business owner, said.

Perhaps the best news for shoppers involves what hasn’t been installed yet: parking meters.

That means free parking for drivers, at least until the city installs terminals and paints the spaces.

There are also plans for events and an advertising campaign to bring shoppers back.