Among traders, there was a shock wave on Thursday, following the announcement of the closure of the Benjo toy store, a flagship institution in the Saint-Roch district.
• Also read: It’s the end for Benjo: the famous toy store in the Saint-Roch district will close its doors after the holidays
“I am very surprised. They’ve been there for a long time. It is an institution. It spanks! I wouldn’t have believed this was going to happen. It’s going to leave a big hole when they leave. I wonder who will be able to fill such big shoes. It’s a great place,” reacted Pascale Rheault, manager of the La Boîte à pain branch, on rue du Parvis.
Although homelessness was not the main cause of the closure, some businesses still mentioned this situation.
“We see that there are more and more people experiencing homelessness who occupy the front of abandoned premises as a residence because they do not have access to other resources,” underlined Élisabeth Dumont, responsible for communications at the La Bordée theater.
Since the pandemic, she has noticed a “change in ecosystem”.
“There are a lot of premises that have closed. I would say that the big boom we felt was really during the pandemic,” she said.
Not the end for Saint-Joseph
At Librairie Pantoute, which opened its doors in 1972 on rue Saint-Joseph, there is no hiding the disappointment.
“It’s a business that has been there for a long time, and so have we. […] We are disappointed to see that they are closing, especially since it is an offer that is still quite unique in the neighborhood,” shared Aude Meunier-Rochon, communications and events manager.
“Of course there are small problems. Homelessness being one of those, but it’s not something that threatens the commercial avenue. Despite this closure, this is not the end of Saint-Joseph Street,” she added.
The neighborhood councilor assures that the City is “doing everything in its power” to increase security in the area.
“It’s certainly sad to see an institution like Benjo close after twenty years. […] There are a thousand reasons why a business can close, both on a commercial street and in a shopping center,” commented the vice-president of the executive committee, Pierre-Luc Lachance.
The SDC nuance
The Saint-Roch Commercial Development Company (SDC) thanks the owners of Benjo for their presence in the neighborhood for two decades.
“Businesses opening and closing is normal. It’s like that in all sectors. It was a very beautiful store typical of Saint-Roch, but we have a lot of other beautiful businesses and restaurants that deserve to be discovered and there will certainly be other new businesses that will come to set up in the area, this news is not necessarily negative,” commented Marie-Pier Ménard, general director of SDC Saint-Roch.
– With the collaboration of Taïeb Moalla
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