Since April, four businesses in Rossland’s downtown core have shut their doors, but there are still few empty retail spaces available as more new businesses have since opened to take their place.
New Edition Café and Books had relocated to the old Bank of Toronto building, opening its doors in the spring, but closed them not long after. The space is now home to The Office, which opened its doors last Thursday. The Office offers work space (available by the hour, day, week or month), and has eight desks, a conference table, a podcast room also suitable for small, private meetings, a phone booth room for conference calls, and a few window seats. Not to mention a high speed internet connection thanks to the Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation.
A couple of doors down at 2125 Columbia Ave., Rossland Computer Repair has also closed its doors, after opening on Mar. 1. But Rossland has not been left without computer repair: Bombshack is now acting as a drop off for Monashee Cyber Security.
As for the space, it is currently under renovation and will soon be the new home of 1025 Tattoo, leaving the space at 2196 Columbia Ave. (the old Montreal Hotel) empty.
On the other side of the street, Treasure Mountain Jewel Shop opened at 2110 Columbia Ave. on Dec. 5, 2015, but has already closed its doors. A financial advisor is setting up shop there, but the location doesn’t appear to be open yet.
Two doors down at 2118 Columbia Ave., Kootenay Gateway opened in July, taking over the space from Maboue and Co. The store still sells Maboue pieces, as well as work from other local artists.
Two other new businesses have also opened in Rossland since April. The Rossland Dispensary is now located in the old Velvet Hotel, in the space formerly occupied by Louise Drescher and Jenny Baillie’s studio-gallery, and Madhu Collective has opened at 2070 Washington St. #1, a space that had been empty since the News started keeping track of Rossland’s downtown retails spaces in September 2015.
Also on Washington St., a new bookstore is setting up shop in the old New Edition Café and Books location, and is expected to open sometime in December, while in the old Bank of Montreal building, Grizzly Roots Botanical has opened on the second floor, with access from Washington St.
As for remaining vacancies, besides the former tattoo parlour location, both Le Roi Mall and 2024 Columbia Ave. remain empty, and 2038 Washington St. has been left empty after Rossland Medical Aesthetics and Day Spa closed its doors. The main gallery of the Bank of Montreal building is also available for rent, either with or separate from a unit in the basement.