A good part of the residents of the Youville district, in Montreal, located just north of the metropolitan highway, between the Crémazie and Sauvé stations, can no longer do their grocery shopping on foot. Since the closure at the end of January of the Marché Tradition on rue Lajeunesse, which was the only full grocery store within a radius of 1.5 km, citizens have been mobilizing to find short- and medium-term solutions.
Marie-Josée Dupuis now lives more than a 20-minute walk from the nearest market. She therefore buys her food in the neighborhood where she works, before returning home. “I walk around with a big backpack and pick things up for supper,” she says. On weekends, she and her husband sometimes rent a Communauto to do bigger errands.
Martine Carrière, who is raising her two children alone, has to ask her friend to take her to the Maxi. Otherwise, she can take the bus to Costco and return home by taxi.
Mme Dupuis and M.me Carrière chat with France Hubert, who walked with the help of her cane, in front of the Marché Tradition, a small, dilapidated grocery store that closed abruptly two weeks earlier. A sign informs customers of this as they encounter locked doors. The three women, gathered for the interview with The dutyare very disappointed.
“Sometimes I used to pass by following picking up my baby from daycare. It was convenient. There, I come home and I notice that things are missing, like milk. We have to pick it up at the convenience store, which will cost more, ”reports Mme Dupuis.
According to this group of neighbors, the supply of products from their grocery store was not very good. Fruits and vegetables were often in poor condition. For this reason, it has been neglected in recent years. It was, however, convenient for last-minute purchases or complementary to large weekly groceries, as well as for those who do not own a car.
The latter would also be numerous in the area, if we are to believe a market study for Lajeunesse Street, carried out by UQAM researchers on behalf of the borough, which found that nearly half of residents use public transport to get to work. Poverty is also substantial there, as evidenced by the president and CEO of the food bank L’Oeuvre des Samaritains. Chantal Plouffe points out that the demand for her service has exploded since the start of the pandemic.
“It’s a whirlwind, we want to find a way to serve all these low-income families, but it’s difficult,” she says.
The city councilor for the Saint-Sulpice district, Julie Roy, believes that the closure of the Marché Tradition is causing a situation of “food desert or almost” in Youville.
In search of solutions
To help residents organize themselves differently, the Youville Citizen Committee has created a pamphlet. It provides information on other options: grocery stores offering a delivery service, local businesses selling prepared meals, food aid organizations, baskets of fresh produce.
We have developed coping strategies. But many people who have just moved to the area do not understand why we are so poorly served.
A carpooling group was launched by Marie-Hélène Cournoyer. “I wanted to help people in my own way, specifically to do the shopping,” explains the resident by telephone.
“We have developed strategies to get by. But many people who have just moved to the area do not understand why we are so poorly served, because people choose to live in the city for this proximity to local businesses,” laments Marie-Josée Dupuis, who is a member of the Youville Citizen Committee.
The next step for the committee is to convince food businesses to establish themselves there. Several citizens also suggested founding a cooperative, an idea considered by the committee, but which would require a lot of effort, according to Ms.me Dupuis.
“We want to draw attention to the sector, to say: we are super well located, we are on the orange line, we have a large pool of people nearby, with young families,” says Ms.me Dupuis.
A great potential
Moreover, the market study cited above gives reason to the committed citizen: the neighborhood is densely populated by people who want local shops such as bakeries, specialty grocery stores, a cheese shop or a butcher on rue Lajeunesse. , currently perceived as ugly. Despite this, around 26% of the premises were vacant there in May 2022.
Andréane Laurin, for her part, opened the bar La jeune mischievous regarding a year ago on the artery. “We believe that the clientele is there. Youville is like the overflow of Villeray, ”she judges. But the premises would be scarcely available for those who have projects like his. During her own research, the trader claims that it was radio silence on the part of several owners of empty premises.
The fate of the premises where the Tradition Market was located, for its part, is uncertain. Sobeys, which owns the sign, still has a lease with the owner of the building, according to councilor Julie Roy. It would be possible for another franchisee to take up the torch.
Sobeys’ external communications manager, Anne-Hélène Lavoie, for her part indicated by email that the company believes in the potential of this location. “We are currently assessing the situation, as it requires major renovations,” she wrote.
The borough is in the process of setting up a mixed committee, made up of residents and merchants, to revitalize the commercial artery. Thus, among the residents, discontent rubs shoulders with the hope of seeing a grocery store better suited to their aspirations.
