Montreal retail, where it came from and where it's going

  The future of local retail here is a hot subject, as commercial high streets are increasingly threatened by online shopping.

   I briefly explored some of these issues in a four minute interview with the great Mutsumi Takahashi* this afternoon on the news. Here's the link to watch it.
   One point I wanted to stress is that while technology has dictated the fate of many types of businesses, it's not the only factor involved. For example  Chinese laundries crashed after hot water and washing machines came into the home but restaurants did not see a similar dip and are thriving more than ever even though all Montrealers now have highly-efficient kitchens.
   Often it's subtle government policy changes that can make or break a business. We've seen the total of depanneurs almost halved since 1988, partly because government allowed grocery stores to sell beer. Government also forced corner stores to lose their video lottery terminals and hide smoking powerwalls.
   As a result many depanneurs have shut and consumers have been inconvenienced - especially those that do not known cars - by the disappearance, which can be blamed at least partly on the weakness of the depanneur association lobby in fighting these changes.
     We also see the inevitable decline of shoe shine parlours as a viable industry but as I've noted elsewhere on this site, that phenomenon was at least partly accelerated in 1948 by government policy that forced such businesses to pay $1,000 for a special permit to operate on Sundays and evenings.
   So what's a good business concept?
   Bowling alleys, are you can see from the graph, is the closest I've seen a business concept grow in step with population growth.

   I've also noted the bizarre fact that there was reportedly only one single tattoo parlour in Montreal between 1959-1969 and it closed up, so that's an industry that has taken off.    

   The 1990s came along and gimmick sex businesses sprouted up including sexy serveuse restaurants which were popping up all over but authorities made those difficult - perhaps unfairly -  by reclassifying the semi-nude waitresses as performers, which made administration difficult.
   There's also an ongoing war on massage parlours under the notion that they are havens of underage sex and white slavery but I don't see much proof of that. Indeed these places are generally quieter than funeral homes, so I question whether government has the moral authority to prevent a taxpaying landowner from putting a money-making business into his commercial property.
   I also noted in the interview that high streets routinely compete with each other, perhaps the most aggressive of which is the St.Hubert Plaza which has known to give free rent to a merchant for a few months just to get rid of an empty storefront. So that's why you occasionally see a little Star Wars figure shop and such bizarre stuff up there.
   These street associations compete with nearby strips, so you used to have Monkland and Sherbrooke in competition until the Sherbrooke street merchants association disbanded (at least it last time I looked.) These associations are sometimes known to poach businesses from nearby rivals, so it can be nasty on occasion.
  One solution that you will also see if a borough or town change zoning to discourage businesses from one strip and push it towards another, so in Verdun, Wellington has been designated forever commercial while Bannantyne and Verdun Aves are being pushed to go residential.
   There's a whole lot of storefront to fill in the future where we won't be leaving our homes all that often, even to shop, so innovation and new businesses will be required.
   I have a few ideas of what the hot future retail street front businesses are but am not entirely convinced that sufficient talent and ambition is being attracted to that realm.
   Sitting in a little shop all day hoping that people walk in and buy stuff, while you force yourself to get through the increasingly complicated administrative challenges involved in running a shop - paying a variety of taxes, buying permits, being grilled on signs (not just for language), workers conditions and all the rest - is not everybody's idea of an enjoyable career plan.
    *Speaking of charts, according to my perusing of old newspapers, Mutsumi's arrival at Pulse/CTV Montreal coincided with that station rocketing upwards far ahead of all competition in the local anglo TV news landscape and those numbers have stayed the same since.