Latest news with #DoodleDogs
Global News
3 days ago
- Business
- Global News
Calgary small business blames ongoing construction for forcing it to shut its doors
Another small business in the community of Marda Loop is closing its doors. The owners of Doodle Dogs, located at 2040 34th Avenue Southwest, say opening a pet store in the community was always a dream of theirs. But with the Marda Loop Main Streets project nearly a year past the originally promised completion date, they now say they can't afford the financial troubles the construction has caused any longer. 'It's cheaper for us to just pay rent and shutter than to remain operational,' said owner Meghan Huchkowski. View image in full screen Meghan Huchkowski, who owns Doodle Dogs with her brother, places a note in the window of the Marda Loop store, telling customers the business is closing its doors for good. Global News When she and her brother originally opened the store in December of 2023, they were told the massive makeover of the streets, sidewalks and other infrastructure would be completed by the summer of 2024. Story continues below advertisement But more than a year later, the problems created by the construction persist. 'At one point — for three full days — we had a construction flagger who was forbidding customers from accessing the front entrance to our store and that's when I went from a little impatient to mama-bear mode,' said Huchkowski. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Because we are a store that often requires a vehicle to pick up 25-pound (11 kg) bags of dog food, for example, folks need parking and to bring a vehicle,' added Huchkowski. View image in full screen Meghan Huchkowski, said, when she opened Doodle Dogs, she was told the Marda Loop Main Street project would be completed by the summer of 2024 – but more than a year later construction is still going on. Global News Doodle Dogs is just the latest Marda Loop business to complain about the impact of the ongoing construction. Two local eateries, Silver Sage Beef and the Diner Deluxe are suing the city for $75 million over the effects the construction has had on businesses along 33 and 34 Avenue southwest and hoping to have it certified as a class action lawsuit. Story continues below advertisement 'I think we are going to see a lot of businesses in the area jumping on to the class action who normally would not have thought about doing that,' said Huchkowski. 'Recently I spoke to a business (owner) who wasn't for it, but said as he crunches the numbers and how much he's lost, it might be worth considering.' As Huchkowski worked at dismantling the store, local pet owner Logan McEachern stopped in to pick up some food for his dog Zoey — and to bid the owners of Doodle Dogs a fond farewell. 'Its a real shame,' said McEachern. 'I'm hoping that construction in the long term will benefit the community as a whole, but it's a shame to see businesses leaving because of it, in the short term.' View image in full screen Marda Loop dog owner Logan McEachern said he's hopeful all the construction will improve the community in the long run, but it is difficult to watch businesses being forced to close in the short run. Global News Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek is scheduled to meet with the owners of Doodle Dogs late Wednesday afternoon, however Huchkowski tells Global News that she is doubtful the mayor will be able to change her mind about closing the Marda Loop store. Story continues below advertisement Hutchinson and her brother still have three other Doodle Dogs locations around Calgary and an online store, but she says, 'I'm sorry we couldn't make it work here.'
CBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Marda Loop business owner says long-term construction forcing store to close
The Doodle Dogs specialty store in Marda Loop is shutting down. Meghan Huchkowsky, the shop's co-owner, blames the City of Calgary's long-term construction, which has been ongoing in the area since June 2023. She says it's made it difficult for people to get to the business on foot and that there's limited parking. The CBC's Acton Clarkin has more on the closure and the city's response.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘You win, City': Doodle Dogs shutters Marda Loop shop; prolonged construction cited as reason
Doodle Dogs has permanently closed its Marda Loop location amid ongoing city construction in the neighbourhood. A Calgary pet store owner blames prolonged city construction in Marda Loop for the permanent closure of her shop, saying repeated promises of completion were never fulfilled and the financial toll became impossible to bear. Doodle Dogs co-owner and co-founder Meghan Huchkowsky announced Tuesday that the store's location at 2014 34th Ave. S.W. had closed for good, ending what she described as a long and costly battle with construction impacts. 'It's been 15 months. We can't keep operational here,' Huchkowsky said in an interview. 'It's costing us a fortune to run the business, which is why we chose to just close the doors permanently.' In a social media post, Huchkowsky wrote that her team had held on through months of financial losses, saying they 'kept saying 'just one more month … it'll get better,'' but could no longer survive the disruption. 'The construction absolutely killed our store,' the post read. 'You win, City.' While she stopped short of directly blaming any individual with the City of Calgary, Huchkowsky said the pace and duration of construction on sidewalks, streets and underground utilities had been devastating. 'Something happened where this was decided to be done, and then I believe it was pretty mismanaged,' she said. 'It just feels like it never ends.' She said limited accessibility, changing sidewalk routes, blocked entrances and misinformation from construction staff kept customers away—even when the store was technically open. 'There was an issue where someone on site was flagging people away from our entrance, citing that they did not have access to our store,' she said. 'That was devastating.' Colin Chapman, the City of Calgary's project lead for the Marda Loop construction, said crews were instructed to maintain access and pedestrian detours throughout the project. 'One of the key pieces in our planning was to make sure pedestrian access was maintained at all times,' he said. 'Sometimes that doesn't happen, and then we try to rectify it as quickly as we can.' Chapman said city crews have performed daily safety checks and met weekly with business liaisons. He added that parking in the area has been limited during road work but said two temporary lots with about 75 combined stalls were created nearby to help. 'Again, it's not the same as having [parking] directly in front of the business, which we understand,' he said. The Marda Loop Business Improvement Area's executive director, Bob van Wegen, acknowledged the hardship businesses have faced during the construction. 'Businesses definitely have had a tough time during construction. There's no doubt about that,' he said. 'It's been super challenging for the businesses that have been here during construction.' Van Wegen said the bulk of the work is expected to be completed by mid-September, with final paving and cleanup extending into early October. But Huchkowsky said she's heard similar timelines before and no longer believes them. 'I'm very grateful that the BIA is optimistic, but they're hearing the same information that I'm hearing—and it's the same information we heard 15 months ago when we opened,' she said. Chapman also said the project is expected to be substantially complete by the end of September, with only 'final checks and deficiency walks' continuing into October. 'Our construction completion date is Oct. 31,' he said. 'But before then, we should be substantially complete for all those areas.' Huchkowsky says had the city actually told her to shut down during construction, she would have received loss-of-business insurance. She says staying open with the reduction in access and customers was untenable. Asked whether the city ever considered advising businesses to shut down temporarily, Chapman said no. 'We try to plan to make sure we have business access and continuity there for them,' he said. 'We are building for the community and to keep them operational, not to close them.' The shop's neighbour, Tina Bilt, who owns Skintelligence European Boutique, says her business of 40 years has also suffered. She's now considering relocating. 'It's not really running a business now,' Bilt said. 'It's just waiting for clients to come, and they cannot come because it's construction everywhere.' Though the city has promoted a nearby two-hour free parking lot, Huchkowsky questions how many customers are even aware of it. 'How do people know about it? Is it my responsibility to communicate that there's a parking lot randomly in a back alley?' she said. She's not seeking compensation, she said—just recognition of the cost. 'I can't by any means say what (is) or what isn't owed. But here's what I can say for certain: everyone who lives here who shops at our store loves our store and has told us they can't get to our store,' she said. 'That's what we need the city to hear.' Despite Doodle Dogs' other locations continuing to operate, along with its online store, Huchkowsky says the Marda Loop closure leaves her grieving what could have been. 'We wanted this store for them. They wanted this store. And I'm devastated that the folks who live here don't have the commercial access they need,' she said. 'At least now we have control over what we can do about the situation, because obviously nobody else is taking control.'
