Reference to article supplied by Terry F Roberts/April 18/13
Why businesses fail in Chestermere:
I happened to catch this recent article about why business fails in our town, the article by Mr Roberts made some very good points about the present state of our business community in Chestermere, however, high prices or poor business hours, are often a direct result of high rents,& lack of employees, perhaps its important to take a look at some of the grass root causes of why we are losing our businesses, & why prices are high, and what needs to be done to put the business’s here back on solid footing.
I too have lived in Chestermere for many years, it was difficult in the early days, we had only one store here, so we had to travel to either Strathmore or Calgary to get the goods and services we needed, so its important to assist our current businesses in finding solutions, I believe most people who live here would gladly shop locally due to the convenience factor and some sense of loyalty to local business if they felt that their dollars where getting them competitive goods and services.
Perhaps its time for developers such as Melcor, and others to take a look at what they are charging in rents, can we try to find ways to alleviate the pressure of high rents? There is nothing wrong with making a fair return on investment, but, perhaps the developers need to share their views with the various business people here, working together to find a Win-Win is and always should be first and foremost, having a lot of empty business condo’s and failing businesses is not in anyone’s interest, everyone loses in the end.
I have had the opportunity to talk with many business people in this town, and I can tell you they are not happy about many things beside rents, dealing with the town, location of current and future business’s, signage, Etc. are among their concerns, again, it sounds like we need some dialogue somewhere, perhaps through the new Chamber of Commerce, or our business development officer the town is hiring, there can be some key dialogue & ideas moving forward, I know one thing for sure, if some of the current issues are not settled soon, we are going to have a number of long term business’s shutting the doors, simply, out of cash to operate, and that folks would be a shame for everyone who lives here.
P.D. Graham.
