A wave of store closures at the Totem Mall is raising alarms about the viability of small businesses in Fort St. John.
Eight stores—once home to clothing retailers—now display “For Lease” signs, while others are heavily discounting merchandise as they prepare to shut their doors.
The trend has caught the attention of city officials, who are now evaluating strategies to encourage residents to shop locally and support businesses in the area.
“Trying to make it easier to find the businesses, what they offer, and then looking at some of the costs,” Tiffany Hetenyi, Executive Director of the Fort St. John Chamber of Commerce told CJDC-TV. ”We found a lot of our smaller businesses are actually going homebased so that they don’t have the overhead cost of a building,”
While the mall closures were not Chamber members, in an effort to address the issue, which was attributed in some degree to economic uncertainty, the chamber has been engaging with business owners to better understand their challenges.
One key finding: many consumers prefer to know what a business offers before visiting, leading more shoppers to choose online options over physical stores. To combat this shift, the chamber along with the city’s Economic Development Committee is rolling out a ‘local first’ initiative aimed at making businesses more accessible and visible.
Plans include targeted marketing strategies, such as guides showcasing local services, to attract both residents and transient workers, whom the chamber considers ‘tourists.’
The hope is that these efforts will boost foot traffic and reinvigorate the local economy.
“It’s going to be a hard landscape in the next year or so, but I don’t think all is lost,” said city councilor and business owner Trevor Bolin. “It’s going to take a lot of work to make it happen.”
Bolin agrees the convenience and affordability of online shopping has made things more difficult for small businesses owners, especially when factoring in operational costs and taxes, but some onus also falls on property owners.
“Higher operating costs, higher triple net costs -- carbon tax on gas bills, on delivery bills, on hydro bills…. It’s just created this landscape that doesn’t allow stores to even survive, let alone thrive like they used to,” said Bolin. “I think we’re going to see that change and I’m hopeful we’re going to see that change.”
The chamber is also now working to identify economic barriers and streamline permitting processes to support small businesses.
“There is a program through NDIT that will look at your economic forecast and whether your business is worth continuing or what you need to change it with… so there are a lot of resources,” said Hetenyi.
Northern Lights College professor Faisal Rashid emphasized the need for continued government subsidies, expanded business education, and a sufficient labour supply to prevent further closures.
“Presently, in my opinion, continued support from federal and provincial government through subsidies for small businesses, and facilitation of business activities through Chambers of Commerce and Industry in FSJ and our Northern Communities can help,” said Rashid in a statement.
CJDC-TV reached out to Canadian Tire REIT who own the mall, but they declined to comment and refused our cameras access.