Downtown shops worried lack of winter parking hurts sales
With winter just around the corner, some shops in downtown St. John's are concerned about how the ice and snow will affect their sales.
Some owners are even saying that poor snowclearing costs them between 30 and 50 per cent of their business.
The issue is the lack of available parking spots once the snow starts falling. If the city is unable to clear the spots fast enough, then people are unable to park their vehicles which means they are not likely going to go shopping.
Shop owners worry that if people get accustomed to not being able to park downtown, there's a good chance they will take their business elsewhere.
Posie Row is a shop in downtown St. John's that sells items like jewellery, hats, purses and accessories.
Owner Anita Carroll saw her sales drop as a result of what she believes is a lack of customer parking.
"Our sales were down 30 per cent," she said.
"When people can't get downtown and they can't find places to park it's one thing but people couldn't even walk around in the downtown."
New plans
The City of St. John's announced on Monday it is investing an extra $1.65 million into snowclearing operations. As well, the city plans on rolling out new strategies and training programs it hopes will alleviate some of the criticisms council heard during last winter.
Anita Carroll is holding her judgment of the city's plan until she sees the results.
"A million and a half sounds like a lot of money," she said.
"Just how far it will go, I really don't know, we'll see."
While most people seem to direct their frustration at the city for the lack of snowclearing, Carroll does think the general public also had to do their part to ensure the roads get cleared.
"I think the public needs to know that in order to facilitate this and to make things improve for everybody, then the cars can't be on the street after midnight on the day of snow removal," she said.
Posie Row isn't the only shop to see its sales down as a result of lack of parking.
Sharon Lush owns Soujourn, a shop in the Murray Premises on the west end of St. John's that sells bags, and other leather goods.
She said they plan on shutting down at the end of December because they can't afford to have another winter like last year.
She said the decline in sales forced her to use her personal savings to keep the business going, and that she can't do that again this year.