A prime real estate spot in Thunder Bay will be available to rent in the entertainment district along Red River Road after the closure of Cathy’s Discount Gift Centre.
Matthew Bressmer, owner of Cathy’s Discount, and neighbouring Creations Body Piercing, said he decided to close the business and make it available for a different type of business for several reasons.
“I hope to rent the place to somebody who might want to open a patio maybe. The new configuration of the downtown Waterfront core is very conducive with walkability, shopping and destination locations,” he said. “If somebody wanted to come down to sit at the patio and enjoy the afternoon, it’s going to be a wonderful place to be.”
With cigarettes becoming less popular and more taxed along with absences of parking for those “quick run-into-the-store” for an item visits and an increase in theft, Bressmer said over time things have become more challenging.
“There are some wonderful people that keep coming in and shopping like our daily regulars, but with the social issues of today, whether it be homelessness or addiction all the time, you really can’t support the amount that’s walking out (stolen) without full-time security or a huge corporation backing you,” said Bressmer, adding that is why a patio type business would work well in the space.
Cathy’s Discount and Gift store was previously owned by Ed Choquette and purchased by Bressmer seven years ago. It has been in business for more than 40 years with one employee serving there for 32 of those years.
“It was hectic at first. We used to cash government and pay cheques, and it was always busy,” said Donna Kallio, the long-time employee. “We don’t do cheque cashing anymore and the street being blocked off (to auto traffic and no parking) is not good. That killed our business right there. We had customers that park their vehicle, run in and run out and I haven’t seen them for over a year now.”
Kallio works with Tristen Davies at the store and said her favourite memories were when the Harbor Festival would take place with store vendors and entertainment outside.
For now, she said, “I am going to retire.”
Meanwhile, Bressmer will continue to operate Creations, which is known in the tourism industry as a “destination location,” where people will go out of their way to visit the piercing, tattoo, and gift shop.
“Cathy’s was a fun little hobby business, it occupied a lot of time, it was really interesting and I really love spending time with this staff. There’s a lot of positives but transitions are important and change is good,” he said.
Bressmer has already alerted Thunder Bay Transit that they are no longer selling bus passes and he is concerned that could be a challenge for people relying on the centre as a convenient location to purchase them.
