The Pulse
Oct. 13, 2023

A market for socially responsible brands, a brewery, and a combination furniture-store-bakery-and-florist will set up shop downtown with the help of a grant administered by the Edmonton Downtown Business Association.

Good Goods Co., The Growlery, and Consign Design are the first recipients of the Downtown Retail Project grant, Puneeta McBryan announced at the annual EDBA fall luncheon on Oct. 12.

"We were really excited to participate in the revitalization of the downtown core," said Aga Wajda-Plytta, co-founder of Good Goods Co. "We're very much community-driven, and we feel like sometimes downtown doesn't get the same attention from a community aspect."

Downtown vibrancy is good for everyone, added co-founder Nina Karpoff. "Your city core needs to be part of the strength of the city and being a part of that effort is a really exciting opportunity for us," she said.

Good Goods sells products online and has a pop-up store in the Manulife building until the end of the year. The founders said they are hoping the new brick-and-mortar space will open in February 2024 and will announce the location soon.

"Good Goods stood out immediately because they clearly have latched onto almost a cult following," said McBryan, the executive director of the EDBA. "(Their customers) will go wherever that retailer locates. … That is exactly the kind of influx of foot traffic and customers that we're hoping for."

The Growlery, which has a brewery and taproom near Blatchford, will open a new brewery downtown. Consign Design, which has a storefront at 11474 149 Street NW, will be opening a new project called Obj3cts to serve as a place to browse curated furniture, housewares, coffee, baked goods, and flowers.

Those three businesses, plus three more to be announced at a later date, will each receive $212,000 plus $38,000 worth of marketing support and business consulting from students at the Alberta School of Business. The businesses must stay in the core for at least 18 months to qualify, McBryan said.

"All of them are signing three- to five-year leases, so that's a huge win in and of itself," she added. "We want retailers who are wanting to come downtown and be in it for the long haul and add to the fabric of downtown."

The Downtown Edmonton Streetfront Retail Report, which was released at the luncheon, found that 33% of street-oriented storefronts downtown are vacant.

• The city announced changes to its Community Sandbox Program that will result in fewer, but more centralized, sandboxes. A "small number of boxes" will be removed in the upcoming winter season, and six new large bins will be installed at select Eco Stations and recreation facilities. In 2024-2025, about 600 boxes will be removed and replaced with 100 centralized sites across Edmonton. Earlier this year, the city did public engagement about its sandbox program, which costs about $900,000 annually, and released a What We Heard Report on its findings. Edmonton's sandbox program has existed for about 30 years and is the largest of its kind in Canada.
• CBC News answered reader questions about Edmonton's zoning bylaw renewal, including questions about changes to where apartment buildings can be built, what happens to mature neighbourhood protections, and the impact on trees, shrubs, and parking. The proposed changes are the first major overhaul of the bylaw since the 1960s and would reduce the number of zones from 46 to 24. Council will vote on the bylaw following a public hearing that begins Oct. 16.
• Royal LePage's latest forecast suggests Edmonton's real estate market is "building momentum," while many other markets across Canada are slowing. The average home price in Edmonton is expected to increase 3% in Q4 of 2023 compared to Q4 of 2022. Edmonton is increasingly attractive to out-of-province and international buyers, including those priced out of Calgary. Demand is likely to outpace supply into 2024, and the rising price of single-family homes will keep some homebuyers in the rental market, said Tom Shearer with Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate.
• Altus Group released its latest Canadian Property Tax Rate Benchmark Report, which measures the commercial-to-residential tax ratio in major Canadian cities. Of the 11 cities analyzed, six had ratios of three or higher, meaning the commercial tax rate is three times the residential rate. Edmonton's ratio was measured at 2.59 in 2023, below the average of 2.82. According to Altus Group, the results of its report "raise questions of inequity in the distribution of the tax burden that could weigh on Canada's business viability and community growth."
• TELUS World of Science is auctioning two giant eyeballs that were part of The Body Fantastic exhibit that closed in 2019. Last year, the science centre auctioned the nose, tongue, and an ear from the exhibit, with each selling for more than $500. The silent auction is raising money to support programming at the science centre.
• CityNews spoke to Ottewell residents who are unhappy about construction delays related to the Ottewell renewal project, which includes repairing roads and sidewalks, replacing street lights, and fixing curbs and gutters. The city said roads, sidewalks, and driveways in Ottewell will be in service by the end of the 2023 construction season.
• The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team found that Const. Travis Jordan and Const. Brett Ryan, two Edmonton Police Service officers who were killed in a shooting in March, acted lawfully and did not engage in any use of force during the encounter. ASIRT was directed to review the incident because it involved civilians being harmed during an interaction with police.
• The chief justices of the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Court of King's Bench, and Alberta Court of Justice have issued a joint statement urging caution around the use of AI tools to prepare court cases. The justices ask lawyers and self-representing litigants who use AI tools like ChatGPT for court submissions to ensure any past cases and citations actually exist. Several jurisdictions in Canada have issued similar notices in the wake of a high-profile American case earlier this year in which two lawyers were fined for submitting a brief made with ChatGPT that cited non-existent legal precedents.

Events to consider this weekend include an autumnal stroll, a holiday shopping experience, a look at the partial solar eclipse, a screening for Muslim-made films, a bookish celebration, and a day of self-care for women of a certain age.

• Oct. 13, 5:30pm: Fall Foliage Tour at Bunchberry Meadows in Spruce Grove
• Oct. 14: The Market Off Whyte Indie Craft & Art Show at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre
• Oct. 14, 9am: Partial Solar Eclipse Viewing at the TELUS World of Science
• Oct. 14, 6pm: Mosquers Film Festival 2023 at Winspear Centre
• Oct. 14-15: Harvest Book Fair, presented by Hungry Zine at the CKUA Building
• Oct. 15, 10am: The Menopause Mission Launch Event, presented by Modern Muse Media at the Creative Hive

Find even more things to do in the Arts Roundup and the Food Roundup.

Photo: The Nature Conservancy of Canada is leading a series of tours of the tamarack stands in Bunchberry Meadows throughout October. (Facebook)