Locals close, chains replace them
A bit late to the game, 24hres asks whether the closure of a local business like Station W means the space will be taken over by a chain store of some kind.
As commercial rents rise uncontrollably, this pattern has been seen all over, but we’ve also seen e.g. Starbucks locations fail to thrive. A street like Mont‑Royal still has a mix of business types, for example. Presumably not all landlords are willing to hike the rents till only McDonald’s can afford them.
Joey 12:11 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
Every time I’m on Notre Dame west of Atwater I’m amazed at how many franchise and chain places there are. There are lots of great indie places of all kinds, but you get the sense it’s a losing battle.
jeather 12:16 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
I object less to the local franchises, Cafe St Henri, Avenue, etc. But it’s just all restaurants (and a fantastic cat grooming location which I recommend to anyone who needs to get their cats groomed).
Nicholas 14:14 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
Not to be contrarian but chains are much less likely to violate worker protection rules or steal wages from employees, and also tend to pay more. They have their problems, but they can just afford compliance much more, and are more worried about being sued for such violations, as they have deeper pockets and more employees such that a lawyer will be willing to take a case. I remember going to the CNT, the precursor to the CNESST, to complain against them violating the law and not paying me for work, and they said my options were to use the commission, which would result in me having to do a ton of work and eventually all I could get was my job back with the same people who stole from me in the first place, or I could sue them, which would cost me a ton up front with a lawyer and if I won I’d get that back and a small amount if I won and if I lost I might owe their lawyer fees too. Even with other employees it wasn’t worth it because there weren’t enough of them.
CE 15:31 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
Maybe it was different back then or your situation was different but I’ve had to contact the CNESST due to employers not paying me two different times and each time just the prospect of having to deal with them has been enough to get both places to cough up the dough they owed me (one even overpaid me but keep that to yourself!)