With the holiday season quickly approaching, city officials are encouraging Calgarians to do their shopping at local businesses this year.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek and Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott kicked off the city’s fifth annual “Support Local” campaign Monday, touring several small businesses in Marda Loop.
“Small businesses comprise 95 per cent of the economic growth in our city,” Gondek told reporters. “So it’s important to be there for them just as they are for us.”
The campaign launch took place at The Shops at Avenue 34, a cluster of small businesses in a restored historic building. Meadow Lark Toys opened their doors in the building in April, its owner Jennifer Rondeau said shopping at a small business also means supporting local families.
“There are so many small businesses in Calgary, and behind each of those businesses is a family,” she said. “This is a family business. … You are truly supporting us going forward with our little family.”
According to the city, for every $100 earned by small businesses, $45 circulates back into the local economy.
It’s no coincidence the campaign was launched in Marda Loop, as the community has since last spring been in the grips of a major construction project that has disrupted both pedestrian and vehicular traffic throughout the area. The project, dubbed Marda Loop Main Streets, includes upgrades to sidewalks and pedestrian crossings and a new multi-use pathway through the area. But the work has resulted in reduced street parking throughout the community, and limited access to sidewalks where construction is taking place.
“I rarely go more than one customer without a parking complaint,” Fraser & Fig owner Cameron Fraser told Global News. “Marda Loop is a struggle for parking as it is, but it’s been frustrating for everybody.”
According to Gondek, city officials are exploring different measures to help support businesses through the disruptions from the construction work.
Walcott, who represents the area on city council, said the first step is raising awareness about the businesses in the community.
“That’s the key right now, we just need people to shop,” he told reporters. “At the end of this investment, people are going to want to be here after all the construction is complete. But it’s about that space between now and then.”
A $20,000 grant has been provided to the local business improvement area to help promote Marda Loop’s business community, and upcoming events being held in the neighbourhood to help drive foot traffic to local businesses.
“We’re really focused on mitigating the losses and making sure people come down, and making sure businesses stay healthy during construction,” said Bob van Wegen, executive director of the Marda Loop Business Improvement Area. “That’s really where our focus is.”
Businesses will get a reprieve from the construction during the holiday shopping season, with work set to slow down and move further from the storefronts in Marda Loop.
“What we’ve done is prioritize where the business fronts are to get work away from there through the winter months,” City of Calgary project manager Colin Chapman said Monday.
Chapman said work will move west of 20 Street S. W. starting in December in the hopes of alleviating traffic disruptions for holiday shoppers. Work on 33 and 34 Avenues S.W. will pick up in the spring with streetscape improvements, which are expected to be completed before the end of 2024.
“I’m really excited for the future of Marda Loop,” Rondeau said. “The fact that Marda Loop is going to be even more accessible and walkable is amazing.”
As part of the support local campaign, the city is launching a contest to win up to $200 in parking credits through to Dec. 23 to further incentivize Calgarians to shop within one of the city’s 15 business improvement areas over the holiday season.
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