The sometimes-fragile economic ecosphere of urban hipsterdom will be tested by the departure of a popular bookstore that played a role in getting its area ranked number five on one list of the world’s coolest urban areas.
Stephen Welch, who has operated his S.W. Welch bookstore at 225 Saint Viateur St. for the past 15 years, told CoStar News in a phone interview that he is leaving due to a sharp rent increase from landlord Shiller Lavy Realties.
S.W. Welch bookstore spent 15 years on the modest but enchanting St. Viateur St. retail strip that connects the major Montreal arteries of Park and St. Laurent. The store occupied a variety of other locations around Montreal for 25 years prior to that.
The St. Viateur strip, with its old-style mom ‘n’ pop businesses, has become a magnet for a mix of bohemians, students, Hassidim and tourists. The street helped the Mile End area earn the title of Canada’s coolest neighbourhood and fifth overall world ranking in a Time Out poll published last October, based on a survey of 20,000 people.
The survey found Colonia America in Guadalajara, Mexico, was first; Cais do Sodre, in Lisbon, Portugal, placed second; Wat Bo Village in Siem Reap, Cambodia, ranked third; and Ridgewood in New York City was fourth.
The S.W. Welch bookstore was initially slated to close two years ago but landlord Shiller Lavy Realties came to a compromise arrangement for a two-year extension after a highly publicized public outcry.
“It was pretty crazy for sure,” Welch told CoStar News. “They just wanted me out so they put the price way up." Welch said he is not planning to reopen elsewhere and will miss the interactions with the people who came into his store to buy and sell books.
He acknowledges that his store might have contributed to the forces that eventually caused him to leave. “A store like mine adds a certain cache to the street and the gentrification begins, as it then has a nice cafe, bookstore, bagel shop.”
Welch is not the only entrepreneur departing the popular strip. Earlier this year landowner Shiller Lavy put five of its properties on the street up for sale. The properties' buildings include the one inhabited by S.W. Welch. Shiller Lavy was asking $4.9 million for the property just under twice what it reportedly paid eight years prior.
Shiller Lavy is also selling some of its other properties on the same strip, including 210 to 212 Saint Viateur St. W. and 266 Saint Viateur W.
Shiller Lavy is led by Stephen Shiller and Danny Lavy. Shiller was a familiar face on Montreal TV in the 1980s when he appeared prominently on commercials with his father and brother for the family store Au Bon Marche, which sells window coverings. CoStar News was unable by email or phone call to reach Shiller Lavy for comment .