There's been a handful of businesses in High River close their doors over the last few months, but that doesn't mean it's all doom and gloom.

That according to High River's Manager of Economic Development, Jodi Dawson, who says she's seeing a number of businesses moving in almost as fast as old one's go.

"When I just think of the downtown alone, we've got a new restaurant opening up in the old 1906 location. They're opening up shortly. We've got another business opening downtown in the old Red Bag location. I know we've got a coffee roaster coming to the downtown and we've got four home based business that have moved into storefront locations in the downtown."

Dawson, says she hears from a lot of people who say they want this or that business to open, and what's the Town doing to bring them here.

She says any new business needs to gauge the demand, and if there's going to be enough business to sustain them.

"Where you might say "Yeah, I'd really like this type of clothing store to be there." It's like "Really? How often will you be there? What will you be looking to buy?" So I think it's easy to sort of throw out things you wish were here, but it's another thing for a potential investor to think there's enough demand to actually build a business case for."

Dawson says High River, like most places, is going through a shift in the market, as retailers adapt and change to growing demand for online services, along with storefront locations.

 

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