Rideau Street music store packing up and moving, citing rising crime

For 42 years, Steve's Music has operated in the same location on Rideau Street, steps away from the ByWard Market.

But the store will soon be relocating to a new home in the city, after facing years of rising crime rates in the area.

"We can't stick around and hope for the best, because we've been doing it for the last few years," said store manager Daniel Sauvé, calling it a difficult but necessary decision.

Steve's Music isn't moving for just "one reason," said Sauvé, citing instead the challenges of the "the last 15 years of doing business on Rideau Street."

"We have to go back to when Rideau got basically gutted for infrastructure. Then we got the LRT delays, then we got COVID ... it's just one thing [that] piles on the others."

But crime and drug use has made the situation "critical" over the past year and a half, he said.

The 'least of all evils'

Drug users themselves aren't the problem, Sauvé said, but they attract a "criminal element" in the neighbourhood.

To cope, he's had to install a doorbell and lock the doors even when the store is open. An employee now lets customers in one-by-one.

"That was the 'least of all evils' solution that we found," Sauvé said, adding that theft and attempted thefts were the tipping point for their decision to move.

The new location will be announced after Christmas, Sauvé told CBC. 

City working to address issues

Steve's Music is a local "institution," said Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, adding it was "disappointing" to hear that it would be relocating.

"I know business owners have to make business decisions ... in the best interests of their businesses and their customers," he said.

But Sutcliffe emphasized that the city is working with businesses and residents to grapple with drugs and crime in the area.

He noted that there are plans for a live entertainment venue in the former Chapters location on Rideau and said he's heard from "people who are considering investing" in the area.

"I'm very excited about the future for the ByWard Market," he said. "I hear from people who say that things are moving in the right direction — maybe not as fast as they would like — but still moving in the right direction."

But for Steve's Music, those changes haven't come fast enough. Sauvé said he's optimistic about how the relocation will refresh the business.

"It's going to enable us to be Steve's Music at our best," he said. "As opposed to being in crisis management mode."