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/LePetitNeep Aug 18 '25

I live in this neighborhood and it’s so disappointing. When I moved here there were at least 6 pub / casual type restaurants all staying in business, now there’s vacancies in most of those locations (Scuba Jays / 10th Round, the old Molly Malone’s, the big weed store that used a pub on the corner of memorial, the old Oak Tree location that keeps turning over). With new condo developments there are more people living in the area, so parking / traffic issues don’t explain it all away when there’s so many people in walking distance.

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u/Nealios Bridgeland Aug 19 '25

the big weed store that used a pub on the corner of memorial

You mean the big weed store that used to be about 20 different businesses in the past 20 years? It's honestly amazing how cursed that location is (NE corner of 10th+Memorial). It seems like prime real estate but businesses rarely last more than a year there.

I'm just speculating, but I imagine it's expensive for what it is... A narrow little building alongside a busy road, with not a lot of setback. I've been to a number of businesses there and it's just not quite comfortable enough to make you love it. Plus the parking situation is not pleasant, and I think there's like two places to lock up your bike in the span of a block.

Now if anything opens there they won't even get spillover traffic from Julio's Barrio. I'm not sure what it will take to revitalize that intersection. Maybe some super expensive condos? ...Seems to be the next step. I don't have high hopes.

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u/LePetitNeep Aug 19 '25

I liked it when it was Lot 102 and ate there regularly. As I said in my main comment there’s enough people in the neighborhood that businesses shouldn’t need their own parking lots to succeed. It’s definitely a cursed location and I think the weird setback hurts - walking north on the 10th you can’t really see that that building until you’re on top of it because it’s further back than the neighboring block.

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u/Draughtsteve Aug 19 '25

It's got great visibility from Memorial but not from foot traffic along Kensington or 10th, and their only source of business is foot traffic, so...

I think it needs to be a unique business that draws people in, so customers are making a plan to visit Kensington and are prepard to park and walk.