Cafe C'est La Vie in downtown Moncton. Image: Facebook.
For businesses in downtown Moncton to survive a decade of issues like homelessness and rising property taxes, the secret is to understand the ups and downs of the area, according to Cafe C’est La Vie owner David Shin.
“If people understand their business and the Main Street characteristics, they will succeed, but if they’re expecting, ‘downtown is always busy,’ they’re going to fail,” said Shin.
Shin has been the owner of the cafe since immigrating to Moncton from Korea in 2011. At that time, Cafe C’est La Vie was still located inside the Highfield Square mall, now the Avenir Centre. But in 2012, that building was demolished and Shin moved to 785 Main St.
When he moved to Main Street in 2012, he remembers the vacancy rates of buildings sitting around 10 percent. But by 2018, that ratio dropped to three percent. One of the changes Shin has seen is the number of “newbie” businesses opening their doors in downtown Moncton.
“We are seeing more businesses downtown,” said Shin. “It’s about making downtown a broader area than before.”
For more than a decade, Cafe C’est La Vie has been known as a multicultural venue, where local musicians, artists and book fans can come together and share their different experiences with others. But in that time, it means seeing hard times.
“I was seeing many other businesses failing in downtown as well,” said Shin. “It was hard to see them because after they failed or someone went bankrupt.”
Shin said the downtown had seen many issues in the last couple of years, mainly stemming from homelessness and inconvenient parking. He said areas like this need to be supported by the city and focused on growth for the future.
“We are paying more tax, but downtown is not revitalized enough, so many of the downtown business owners are having a difficult [time] doing their business,” said Shin. “As a small business owner, it is a really tough period right now.”
Considering the problems that some might see, Shin said some business owners are opening outside of downtown. As a result, some buildings see more vacancies.
“That is exactly what’s going on,” said Shin, adding it could convince business owners that downtown isn’t the best place to do business during Covid-19.
Shin knows the area has experienced ups and downs for decades – back to the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s when downtown Moncton was seen as a ghost town after railroad workers left the area as CN Rail halted operations.
Shin said the downtown area often went through revitalization for a little more than 10 years before declining again. While Shin says Downtown Moncton Centre-Ville is working to revitalize the area, it isn’t progressing fast enough. But that, he said, is because of the pandemic.
“History is history,” said Shin. “If we don’t learn from our history, we are going to have it be happening again and again.”
Businesses like Shin’s have managed to push through rough times like the pandemic by coming up with a “survival strategy” and getting creative when it comes to opening. Shin hopes more residents will make their way back downtown as vaccine rollout is expected to increase by June and July.
“I’m optimistic in downtown businesses for the future, but it will take time,” said Shin.
Aaron Sousa is a summer intern for Huddle Today, a content sharing partner of Acadia Broadcasting
