In the wake of the King Street Ale House permanently closing its doors, Fredericton residents are taking notice of the increasing number of downtown businesses that have done the same within the past few months. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the city’s beloved downtown area is ill-fated.

Nicole Thorne worked at the King Street Ale House until its doors were shut for good on New Year’s Eve.

As a supervisor at the downtown Fredericton landmark before it closed, she was familiar with its employees and customers as well as the happiness that resonated in the building.

“Doug [Williams, the owner of King Street Ale House,] really created a team with such different types of people that you walked in and you made friends with such different people that you wouldn’t normally have talked to, and we became so close and such good friends.”

Now those days are behind her and the 25 to 30 employees that worked at the pub-style restaurant, which was open for more than 10 years between its original location on Queen St. as the Garrison District Ale House and the later location on Kings Street.

She recalls the place as a somewhere a diverse crowd of people gathered. From big business gatherings to craft beer enthusiasts, she said they would all have a good time at King Street Ale House.

Thorne says she’s certain she can find another job pretty quickly. She’s not so sure about the other employees that she has become close with.

King Street Ale House is not the first business to close in the past couple of months in downtown Fredericton. McGinnis Landing, a local restaurant at 280 King St., closed on December 28th, and other notable businesses such as the Owl’s Nest, Read’s and Things: The Hippie Boutique have also permanently closed.

Following the closures, Andrew Dawson, owner of Brewbakers and the now-vacant space where King Street Ale House was, said he finds it concerning to watch downtown businesses close.

“Being in business is tough, and it’s not getting any easier. There are all sorts of problems, and it’s not the government’s fault anymore, it’s my fault or my customers’ fault.

“Expenses are high and costs are high and you’ve got to work for every penny of revenue. I don’t think there’s any single thing to blame, but it’s discouraging.”

Raised in a family of business people and being a business owner himself, Dawson decided to help out some of the permanently closed businesses.

He will be accepting King Street Ale House and McGinnis Landing gift cards at his bar and grill until none remain.

“I just thought it was an easy way for me to help out and take some of the sting away so there just wasn’t a wave of negativity out there.”

Krista Ross, Chief Executive Officer of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, says a number of factors can be a cause for businesses to close. However, she also says that just because some businesses are closing didn’t necessarily spell trouble for downtown Fredericton.

“The downtown business community is a delicate ecosystem. And certainly, it can be a challenge. But at the same time,  while we have had some business closures, and that is certainly devastating…we’ve also had a number of businesses opening.”

She says competition, increased costs, labour issues and even the flood that Fredericton experienced spring 2018 could have contributed to businesses struggling.

But downtown is evolving, she says.

“We have a couple of office complexes, one under construction, one that will be starting construction in the spring, that will draw new patrons and new employees downtown. We have a number of new restaurants and bars. We have a new pharmacy downtown. We have a number of new businesses that are expanding.”

“It takes a little time but we’re hopeful that some new places will open.”

Fredericton also greeted a number of new businesses in 2018, including Gahan House, the Provincial, Rustico and J’s Asian Kitchen, among others. With changing trends and markets comes changes to the types businesses that will thrive, but perhaps these changes will encourage Frederictonians to ensure they consider supporting local business more often.