Closed Bernard Merchants pay?

[cv23]

To me, the merchants have gone thru tough times. Why charge? For heavens sake the city could have given them some help.

Why just these specific few merchants?
What about all the other merchants in Kelowna who are facing exactly the same challenges?
What makes the Bernard merchants so special that they alone receive preferential treatment?

[Pookybear]

To me, the merchants have gone thru tough times. Why charge? For heavens sake the city could have given them some help.

Everyone’s business is going through tough times why should business downtown get special treatment? There are no money trees handing out free money.

[one wheel]

The City has spent a fortune renovating downtown & they want to have residents & tourists to come down to explore & enjoy it ?
Maybe the restaurants & drinking spots with patio's extending onto Bernard will attract people which might result in other merchants seeing an increase in business ?

Maybe this idea will succeed, summer has only begun ?

[cv23]

The City has spent a fortune renovating downtown & they want to have residents & tourists to come down to explore & enjoy it ?

Anyone can spend a fortune putting lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.

Maybe the restaurants & drinking spots with patio's extending onto Bernard will attract people which might result in other merchants seeing an increase in business ?

Or maybe the loss of over a hundred parking spots will keep people away and cause a reduction in business for all the Bernard merchants? At least a couple Bernard merchants are concerned.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7110219/kelo ... d-closure/

[GordonH]

I strongly suspect due to economic issues facing families today (over covid 19).
Tourism is not going to be anything near normal for the foreseeable future. Those dependent on those $$$ probably may not survive.

Unfortunately I see personal bankruptcy &/or business raising up, along with house foreclosures. Mainly because so many are living on razors edge.

[ranger49]

Canada Day 2019 was beautiful. The weather was hot 29C, low humidity, clear skies and light wind. Fireworks, music, it was a celebration. 28,000 people walked along the sidewalk, between Bernard and Mill that day.

Canada Day 2020, cold, rainy, windy; Events and fireworks cancelled. Pandemic. Yet, 21,600 people still managed to overcome the tremendous obstacle of finding a parking spot and walked down Bernard.

Now, the counter wouldn't be picking up people walking/biking down the middle of the street. I also don't remember if Bernard was closed to vehicles for Canada day 2019 as well.

Normally, 7,000 people walk by that counter daily.

[Scrobins94]

To me, the merchants have gone thru tough times. Why charge? For heavens sake the city could have given them some help.

Why just these specific few merchants?
What about all the other merchants in Kelowna who are facing exactly the same challenges?
What makes the Bernard merchants so special that they alone receive preferential treatment?

I appreciate having a nice walkable main street that also happens to be by the water. What other areas do you think the city should have an expanded patio program? By the way, this is a test, so some could argue these businesses are unjustly used as guinea pigs. It's also a popular area. The new inside limited capacities would not be enough to meet demand. Perhaps you or someone else wants to be there too? Last I checked the were several businesses for lease including one right next to Tim Hortons which sat empty for what seems at least half a year.

[Blaker]

The merchants are being billed $2000 a month for the patios

[two_shoes1mit]

Putting lipstick on a pig?
Couldn't agree more. First time downtown today since the blockade on Bernard. Navigating the downtown area was not a fun experience trying to get close to a particulare shop. Lots of police on bikes tending the street residents. Finished my business and stood back and took a look at our beloved Bernard Avenue.
Timbers rising skyward, big clunky concrete barriers at every intersection going north, a scattering of patio tables with umbrellas. What an ugly site the downtown area has become. You need a whole lot more than lipstick on this pig - who in their wildest dreams could come up with this pathetic design for downtown Kelowna?

[LANDM]

The merchants are being billed $2000 a month for the patios

Really? I hadn’t seen any reference to that charge.
I’m not saying you are wrong....just that I was not aware of that.

[Anonymous123]

Or maybe the loss of over a hundred parking spots will keep people away and cause a reduction in business for all the Bernard merchants? At least a couple Bernard merchants are concerned.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7110219/kelo ... d-closure/

Let’s not forget the merchants that are struggling on Lawrence, Ellis, Water and other streets in the downtown core. They are losing parking spots in front of their stores to people parking and walking over to Bernard.

[Blaker]

The merchants are being billed $2000 a month for the patios

Really? I hadn’t seen any reference to that charge.
I’m not saying you are wrong....just that I was not aware of that.

That’s what the owner of Momo Sushi told us when we were eating there the other night

[marooned]

In reference to: https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/3 ... ure#305879

I feel for those retail businesses who have struggled during the pandemic, but blaming the Bernard closure for declining sales is misplaced. I see far more people downtown than in previous years, in spite of the pandemic, but it could be that their priorities have changed. Customers don't seem to be shopping like they used to, as seen in the vast open parking spaces at Orchard Park. The causes could be un- or underemployment, hesitation due to COVID-19, or other. Bernard Avenue's closure didn't make that happen - the pandemic did.

The closure of Bernard presents an opportunity to re-think how you showcase your business to customers in the summer. I would like to see a market-like atmosphere up to the end of the closure, with retailers pulling products outside to draw foot traffic. I realize that this takes a cash outlay for shelters, and working with the CoK to secure the space ($), and also requires a re-think of how you place staff, but I don't see very many retailers taking up space on the street. Restaurants went to the expense of building out patios to keep their business afloat, and I was expecting retailers would do the same.

I think it's a great idea to have other businesses set up tables to fill out the street. Obviously tough to set up this year given the closure was arranged on such short notice, as it would have required agreement between store owners, property owners, and the City.

Finally, foot traffic has always been highest below Pandosy (like, since the 90's), so the restaurant patios are not the cause of this - that's the impact of the draw of lower Bernard and the lake.

[lesliepaul]

This whole shutdown of Bernard only caters to alcohol sales at the restaurants there..........food sales profit is always secondary to profit off liquer..........thats why these places rush you out if you are not drinking. Rest assured, if anyone was talking to the city about shutting down Bernard, it was the bars.

.......no doubt these bars will be the problem with the virus numbers climbing simply because a large pecentage of their clientele are idiots.........along with Kelowna's elected a block away.

[featfan]

*removed*