Les Escomptes Lecompte wants to stay in Saint-Roch

The calculation is carried out in the office of the owner, Sylvie Lecompte.

With Escomptes Lecompte, Brico Déco and Lecompte de Noël which temporarily occupied the premises of the former Laliberté, it has more than 33,500 square feet on Saint-Joseph Street East under its wing.

“We still have three large store areas. If we move, it will become sad in Saint-Roch,” says the trader, in an interview with The Sun.

This is far from being his wish.

The fact remains that Ms. Lecompte says she is obliged to consider the option if the tide does not turn soon. “I wish I didn’t have to consider it. I love Saint-Roch like nothing else.”

With the aura of a general store, the brand has thrived since 1984 by adapting to the removal of the roof of the Mail Saint-Roch, the labor shortage and even the headaches of the pandemic.

However, a feeling of helplessness takes over in the face of the changes the neighborhood is now undergoing.

Drastic drop in office clientele, issues of cohabitation and sharply increasing shoplifting are on the owner’s lips. “We are breaking our social and economic fabric,” she says with concern.

“Homelessness is not the big problem. That’s all it brings around,” specifies Ms. Lecompte, who points to public health and safety issues.

The latter notes that “petty banditry” has more and more influence in the sector. She estimates that she faces 15 times more shoplifting than three years ago.

Its turnover suffers. Employee retention too.

“We are coming to a point where we are no longer able to protect our inventories. This is where we have a big profitability problem,” she admits.

Employees must then intervene or risk being jostled. “We are obliged to make a job that we didn’t have to do in the past. “It’s extraordinary what’s happening to us,” she says, while emphasizing that she cannot afford to hire full-time security guards.

“We are determined”

Sylvie Lecompte admits: revealing the challenges she faces on a daily basis worries her. “Which traders will want to come and set up shop afterwards?” she asks herself.

However, she wants her voice to be heard by public decision-makers. “I hear the heartfelt cries of other traders. We are determined, we are hardworking. We are stubborn in general. We want to continue to believe in it,” says the businesswoman.

“What will give us hope are concrete actions. “No telling us the song of being tolerant,” she adds.

At the top of the list, Ms. Lecompte wants the presence of pedestrian police officers 24 hours a day in the neighborhood, in addition to seeing housing built in the heart of the city center.

If the City of Quebec has increased the police presence in the sector, the merchant deplores that the number of personnel deployed and their schedule remain confidential.

“We cling to what we hear: a strong and proud city. We are clinging to zero homelessness. We are put on hold,” she concludes.

“It takes deep action. Without that, what will happen?”

— Sylvie Lecompte, owner of Escomptes Lecompte

While the two other Escomptes Lecompte stores are on a good roll, only the address in the Saint-Roch district is staggering, confides the entrepreneur.

“I have a hard time being festive, because I would like to still have years ahead of me. But where will I take my shift? My niece is going to take the stores in Victoriaville and Trois-Rivières. But how will she want to take mine?