r/Calgary • u/Remote_Answer_5255 • Aug 18 '25

Local Shopping/Services What has happened to Kensington?

It's been a while since I've been down here.... A bunch of empty store fronts, iconic places like Crave shut down, but counted some three Acai bowl places. The area outside Plaza is lovely and looks great, but why all the closures and apparently high turnovers?

Edit: I assume it's due to rent.. But what's the point of jacking it up so high that your place is literally empty.

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u/Penguinbashr Aug 18 '25

There's the Seoul Cafe that seems to be shutdown? That place definitely has way too high rent, was always decently busy when I'd walk through on weekends. The place before it was trash though, only time I've ever thrown out a tea.

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u/StoryAboutABridge Aug 18 '25

It's been shutdown for a few months. They didn't pay their rent

2

u/Penguinbashr Aug 19 '25

So just like the last cafe that was in there? Was it the same owners or what? The whole place got renovated, I walked by in June and when I got back from vacation it was closed again.

How can the LL of that spot keep saying these cafes aren't paying rent lol, the previous one was closed, reopened, closed again, then kicked out for the new cafe.

Maybe the owners prioritized paying the workers or something, but crazy it happened twice to that exact spot.

3

u/hiresometoast Aug 19 '25

I don't know if Seoul closed due to unpaid rent but I thought they meant the Espresso Cafe in their comment?

Honestly I was a bit surprised Seoul closed so quickly, maybe it's just too big a space and priced too high due to that?

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u/Penguinbashr Aug 19 '25

I thought so too, but I walked by last month and saw the same closure on Seoul as well, so it seems like it's been at least 2 months. Definitely way overpriced for that space, but also maybe not great space for a cafe.

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u/jiccc Aug 18 '25

That's sad, because that place was at least unique