Several shop owners in Sackville, New Brunswick, have been told to take their businesses elsewhere — literally — after being recently informed that an upcoming “redevelopment” will force businesses and residential tenants in the community’s downtown to relocate by next year.
Miriam Lapp is the co-owner of Blind Forest Books, and her bookstore has become a landmark in the York Street business community. Sackville for the past seven years. After paying off some outstanding business loans in 2023, she said her business is finally starting to boom.
Until she received a letter from her landlord telling her she had to move out by April 30, 2025.
“We are very sad, very frustrated,” she told Global News in an interview on Monday.
In addition to Rapp's bookstore, three other businesses and several residential tenants also had to pack up and move.
“We’re all devastated,” she said.
“It's really hard to imagine where we could move to. There's very little retail space available downtown,” she said, adding that she has renewed her lease every two years since first moving to the York Street store.
Miriam Lapp, co-owner of Blind Forest Books in Sackville, New Brunswick
Suzanne Lapointe
Rapp said one of her biggest challenges ahead will be collecting more than 30,000 used books and transporting them to another location.
Emails needed on the day
Top news from Canada and around the world.
Despite suggestions that she move to nearby communities such as Amherst, she said she wants to “keep the dream alive” and remain in her hometown of Sackville. She is actively looking for new store locations in the area.
“Second-hand bookshops are very important to towns and cities, making books available to people from all walks of life who come here to shop,” she said.
Rapp said she didn't know any details of the building's owner's renovation plans.
“Everybody is devastated. Everybody can't believe that the lovely face of Sackville and all its cute little shops is now under threat,” she said.
Atlantic Industries Ltd., the company that owns the properties, confirmed the letters sent to tenants were authentic but did not provide further details when contacted by Global News on Monday.
A Sackville City Council spokesman also declined to comment on whether there were any development plans for the area.
Sackville resident Holly Wry said her community is saddened that the businesses will be moved out of the downtown.
“There’s a lot of buzz on the street about new businesses coming into the community and then being taken away from the community, which gets people excited but then they’re disappointed,” she said, adding that these local shops and historic properties are a big part of the downtown’s appeal.
“I think we have that small town vibe and I think that’s the goal of everybody in the community to maintain that, and that’s part of the appeal of Sackville and we’re proud of that.”
Wye said it was “a shame” for these businesses to move out of the area.
Despite not being able to renew her lease this time, Rapp said her landlord has promised to lower her monthly rent when her two-year lease expires in September, while she works to find new accommodation before she moves in April.
“It’s a nice buffer for us, especially because it’s going to take us a few months to get these 30,000 books out and figure out where to put them next,” she said.
Rapp said she has no plans to close her business because of the upcoming move.
— With files from Suzanne Lapointe
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
