After being named coolest street in the world, some businesses are leaving Wellington street

Wellington street in Montreal’s Verdun borough was named the coolest street in the world by Time Out magazine last summer now it’s seeing some business owners choosing to close up shop and leave the popular street. All this they say is due to high rent increases.

“We’re getting more and more popular as a street and the average cost of leases went a little bit higher,” explained Patrick Mainville, general manager of the Commercial Development Company (SDC) Wellington.

“Our main goal was to make this place, make the street clean and safe and try to put some life and fun and the cost of that, is people want to maybe have some advantage of this situation.”

For La Tienda on Wellington, they’re facing rent increases of 12.5 per cent this year and have also received a request for an increase of almost 24 per cent for 2024. The owner of the business says she has no choice but to leave.

“There’s nothing that protects us,” Anne St-Hilaire, owner of Center La Tienda said in French. “We are part of the change that exist in Verdun and on Wellington street, it’s thanks to companies like ours, that the street has become the coolest in the world.”

Anne St-Hilaire, owner of Center La Tienda. (Photo Credit: Felisha Adam, CityNews)

La Tienda is a niche business which encompasses a travel agency, which offers services and equipment focused on hiking trips, and a café. They’ve been on Wellington since 2011.

“To see these companies closing it takes away the soul of living in a neighbourhood that everyone knows. It’s a beautiful neighbourhood, on Wellington street, but to see it fall to be replaced by bars, big chains, its something that is cold,” said St-Hilaire.

Choosing to move to another location on Verdun Street was not an easy choice, but with clients across the world, St-Hilaire says it was the only way the business would survive.

“It was stressful. But we have built our clientele, and it’s not easy, we want to keep them, and we want it to continue.”

As of right now there is no law in place which limits rent increases for commercial leases, something St-Hilaire says is needed so that small businesses like hers can continue to exist.

Destiny Rogantini Gamble, a Verdun Resident. (Photo Credit: Felisha Adam, CityNews)

“It’s just upsetting,” said Destiny Rogantini Gamble, a Verdun Resident. “It just feels like finally the businesses who were here the longest and have their foot in the door are now just getting booted out because they can’t make the new rent prices.”