The news came like a hammer Monday morning for the bakery’s loyal customers. Its owner, Éric Émond, made the tough decision to close his business on January 31 due to a drastic drop in his turnover.
He made the announcement on his social networks, and the publication generated a large number of reactions, sadness and support. According to him, this would be a consequence of the work currently underway at Faubourg Sagamie.
The owner, Éric Émond, made the tough decision to close his business on January 31 due to a drastic drop in his turnover. (Tom Core/The Daily)
“The shopping center is undergoing a major transformation. When the first business closures began, we suffered an initial drop, but since the beginning of September, we have lost a third of our turnover,” he said in an interview with Le Quotidien.
He was the first to be surprised and did not expect the work to have such a significant impact on the traffic and survival of his business.
The company, which at its peak had around ten employees, has had to lay off several staff members in recent months. During the interview with Le Quotidien on Monday noon, the owner announced that he had once again had to terminate the contracts of certain employees. From a dozen, they went to four.
No relief
Added to this is age and the lack of a buyer. At the dawn of his 66th birthday, Éric Émond confides that he “does not have strong enough backs to support this for another three or four years”.
He had found someone internally who would have agreed to take over the reins of his bakery, and with whom he had been talking for four years. But since Faubourg Sagamie passed into the hands of the Cloriacité Group, the new buyers, and the work began, the person interested in taking over has withdrawn.
(Tom Core/The Daily)
“With the upheaval of the place, there are still a lot of unknowns, about charges, fees, etc., so that scared her, she became discouraged and left to look for something more secure, she bought another bakery,” he explains.
The bakery would have been a hit with the future inhabitants of the place, where 360 housing units are planned, but this stage of development came far too late in his opinion.
-“That’s what interested me the most in their plans, the 360 housing units, but it’s the last phase, it would happen in four years, and I would be too old by then,” he mentions. .
To counter the lack of traffic, Éric Émond and his team focused everything on advertising. They went to the Christmas market, went on the radio and handed out flyers to say they were still in business.
“We spent $3,000 on advertising, plus expenses, and it didn’t come to anything,” he says.
“They took over my business. The work sawed off my legs, before, it worked well. But when several tenants like the SAAQ left, we had a reduction of 25%, and another 20% since September.”
— Eric Émond
As L’Artisan Boulanger plans to close before the end of its lease, its owner could face punitive clauses included in the contract that binds it to the owners of the premises. But Éric Émond could contest them, since he believes that the owners did not provide him with an adequate place to run his business.
Other projects
The end of L’Artisan Boulanger does not completely mark the retirement of Mr. Émond, he who was recruited by the professional training center to occasionally give lessons to adults, non-professionals, to teach them how to make bread.
He was also hired three days a week in another bakery in Saguenay, the name of which he prefers to keep quiet for the moment.
His last thoughts are with these loyal customers. “It’s a choice, but what saddens me the most is my core loyal customer base, the die-hards who came to get their bread every day. People are saddened and sorry about the situation,” he concludes.
Two new businesses and 360 homes
As a reminder, the Cloriacité Group announced last September the arrival of a Bulkbarn store and an Anytime Fitness training center for phase one of the project. Ultimately, the site will also include 360 rental units.
Phase two of the project, including the demolition of the rear portion of Faubourg Sagamie, will begin in the fall of 2025. The total project represents an investment of between $150 and $160 million.
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