2023-10-03 04:00:00
While the retail sector is doing relatively well in Canada’s major cities, spending at these stores in Montreal fell by as much as 30% last year.
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Boarded-up storefronts, plastered with “For Rent” advertisements behind which a dark and dusty room hides, have become common sights on the streets of Montreal. And the figures confirm that the bleeding continues.
According to Moneris, a company specializing in payment processing, clothing stores experienced a 20% decline in Montreal between May 2022 and 2023. Big box stores (-30%) and second-hand stores (-29 %) did even worse.
Montrealers seem to have flocked to low-cost stores, which saw a 24% increase in their transaction volume, notes the company, which processes billions of transactions each year.
“On the other hand, we saw the figures rise by 4% in August. This may be a sign of optimism. The return to school for children and the office for parents usually contributes to a rebound in sales,” explains Pasquale Pizzi, spokesperson for Moneris.
Montreal, dunce of Canada
In the retail sector as a whole, Montreal is down 7%. Elsewhere in Canada, the figures are nowhere near as gloomy. Retail trade in Toronto, during the same period, increased by 1%.
There, discount stores (21%), sports stores (24%) and music stores (23%) were all up, as were toy and hobby stores (35%).
Retail sales also increased by 2% in Edmonton and Calgary where, unlike those in Montreal, men’s and women’s clothing stores increased their transaction volume by 33% and 36% respectively.
Businesses in Vancouver also saw their sales figures increase during the period, by 1%.
Post-COVID smiles on hoteliers
On the positive side, the end of health restrictions caused sales in the travel and leisure category to explode by 190% in Montreal.
“This can be attributed to the fact that restrictions were still in place at the start of 2022. But nationally, the same figure is only 80%. It is much higher in Montreal and it continues to rise, while it has stabilized in the rest of Canada,” explains Pasquale Pizzi.
Leisure activities include going to the cinema, sporting events, traveling, in short everything that is “outing”. “Montrealers want to travel more. We want to go out and get together in a social environment,” adds the spokesperson.
Also in Montreal, catering recorded an increase of 38% between February 2022 and 2023. The hotel industry recorded a spectacular increase of 87%.
This period corresponds to the end of Igloofest and the start of Montreal in Lights, festivals which marked their big return in person for the first time since the health crisis.
“Tourism is clearly back. People feel more comfortable going out. And even though Quebecers complain about inflation, interest rates and expensive groceries, data shows that people continue to go to restaurants and travel. Quebecers continue to put these expenses on their priority list,” underlines Pasquale Pizzi.
– With the collaboration of the QMI Agency
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