‘They don’t come in’: Dewdney Avenue construction impacting sales at Regina businesses

Dewdney Avenue has been under construction since April and while the end result will be a revamped and revitalized area, construction crews are digging holes in pocketbooks as well as underground.

“We didn’t think it was that bad at the start of construction, but you don’t get those summer sales back,” Rebellion Brewing owner Mark Heise said.

Heise said a lack of sales are due, in large part, to poor signage and visibility. He said many people think Dewdney is closed altogether when in reality, all the businesses are waiting for customers to stroll in.

“For the last seven weeks, we were completely shut off from any street access,” he said. “We started to see our sales dip.”

Just down the street from Rebellion is Rooted Living Designs. They say they have also felt the impact of construction.

“People just don’t see us,” Rooted Living Designs owner Tyler Poloway said. “They don’t think about us and they don’t come in.”

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With limited access to his shop, Poloway said he has relied on external business to fill the pot.

“(Doing) workshops outside of the shop or pivoting to doing big office functions,” he explained. “We have a big one coming up that’s 60-70 people, so those things help push through sales and pay rent.”

City of Regina water waste and environment director Carolyn Kaleem said the Dewdney project is about halfway completed and asks residents and businesses to be patient.

“The project will focus next year on a lot of the above-ground exciting beautification features, including wider sidewalks, enhanced lighting and more pedestrian amenities,” Kaleem said.

And while the process is painful right now, Heise hopes the wait is worth it.

“This whole area is going to be reimagined,” he explained. “It’s going to be a beautiful space. It’s going to encourage even more businesses and more development to want to come down and check out all this great stuff.”

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