Post 3168 - A New Focus

Short and sweet tonight.

I developed a headache at work today. I took one of those magic pills. It worked, mostly. But I was left beat, so I napped the night away. Here I am, 10:50pm, and I will likely be awake for some time yet.

I have commented on radio developments for years now, and will continue to do so. But I want to discuss a couple retail developments in the downtown. Let me know what you think of these early efforts.

The Dandelion Cafe on Blowers Street seems to have closed, after it barely opened. Patricia finagled a tour of the place a couple of months ago and reported it looked nice in there. It makes me wonder, therefore, how a business can have a relatively soft opening, and fold up like a house of cards just a few weeks later? Was some loan called in or something?

And The Highwayman Restaurant is coming to Barrington Street sometime in March. It is taking over the old Certainly Cinnamon space. I bent many an elbow drinking coffee at CC over the years. I wonder at the new owners' interest in squeezing 40 seats in that small area. Certainly Cinnamon had some long tables, and a couple short ones. They had a table in the window overlooking Barrington. 40 people in that little space is a mighty tall order.

And I had to chuckle when I read that the new owner feel that Barrington is out to bust open. There is pent up demand for new restaurants there to accommodate the people who will soon be living downtown and working out of the Nova Centre, a couple of blocks away. That may be true, but it is not happening any time soon. The Nova Centre will not be completed until September of 2016, with the grand opening in of 2017, a full year from now. (These are estimates, not psychic predictions. Something can happen between now and then to force a delay.)  I don't know what the folks who own The Highwayman will subsist on until then. When the Carlton is suffering and panhandling on "fund me" pages, you know the downtown is having a hard time.

The Sushi Jet on Salter Street closed before the holidays. It is in a prime location, but every eatery that sets up there, is doomed. The Highwayman is a few blocks away, but if other downtown eateries are coughing up blood, who's to say that a new one will flourish?

This was fun. I think I will comment more on retail comings and goings as the mood strikes me. If you have any retail news and don't want to tell The Coast or Halifax Re-Tales, let me know and I promise to report it here. Best bet is to email me here.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy