An organic health food store located in downtown Edmonton has issued an ultimatum to the community: use us or lose us.
In a post on its website and Facebook page, Earth’s General Store said it will have to close its downtown location if business doesn’t pick up.
“Our downtown store has come to the point that it has failed and we are reaching out to the downtown community with a simple question – do you want us in your community?”
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However, the owner is being very open with staff and customers and is leaving the final decision in the hands of potential patrons.
“We love being part of the downtown community but we are not presently getting the business to survive,” the post reads. “Do you want us here or not? The decision whether we stay or not is yours. It has always been out of our hands.”
The local independent business admitted that it’s failing financially and has set monthly targets for this year. If the downtown store doesn’t meet the target by the end of each month, it will give notice to the landlord that it will leave after a six-month period. For example, if the target isn’t met at the end of January, the store would give notice to vacate by the end of July 2017.
“We will invoke that early termination notice at the end of January if we don’t reach that minimum amount.” owner Michael Kalmanovitch told Global News on Wednesday. “It’s only eight per cent over what we did last year and most stores do five to 15 per cent over the previous year, so it’s not an astronomical amount and we have reached that target about four times last year.”
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“I’m trying to make it work here,” Kalmanovitch said. “I’m trying to make it attainable. I’m trying to make it work for the community as well as us as a business.”
Earth’s General Store has a location on Whyte Avenue that has been very successful. However, its location on 104 Street, which opened in 2014, hasn’t been financially sustainable.
“Our rent downtown is twice what the Whyte Avenue store costs and we do about 50 per cent of the sales,” the post reads.
“People say they want a safe, walkable, entertaining, and healthy neighbourhood to live in. A neighbourhood where people can walk to services like banking, post office, shopping, drug store, dry cleaners, liquor store, bars, sandwich shops, restaurants, groceries, etc. 104 Street has nice wide sidewalks for people to meander along, low profile curbs to encourage jay-walking, trees, interesting and diverse businesses, lots of places to eat, slower than normal traffic, a park, a school, convenience store, and lots of people living in their condos/apartments. Sounds like an idyllic space to me,” the post continues.
The store said it will keep staff and customers apprised of the situation month-to-month.
“Earth’s General Store downtown is not alone in this predicament. There are many local businesses that could use a little more of your patronage. Take some of your money out of the corporate stores and spend locally. Your community will be richer for it.”
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On Jan. 2, another downtown business, restaurant MRKT, announced it would be saying goodbye after 11 years.
In a hand-written letter shared on Twitter, MRKT owners said they had decided to sell.
“It has been an amazing journey revolutionizing Edmonton in the culinary aspect in the downtown core,” the letter reads. “Thank you for all your love and support Edmonton.”
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