SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the mall, so few shoppers were shopping, it didn't seem like Christmas at all.

Patricia Abel, left, and Val Mitro sell baked goods in Centre Square Mall to raise money for clients at the Women's Shelter last week. Business has been good, Mitro said, in contrast to the many empty spaces in the downtown mall. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

Many merchants in Centre Square Mall were not so merry in the lead-up to the holiday season, due to the drop in foot traffic in the territory's largest shopping centre this holiday season.

"People are just not shopping," said Bootlegger manager Honeylet Sayong, who has worked in the mall for more than a decade.

"Last week was busy, but other than that, it's been very quiet. Last week and this week, we started to get busy."

Honeylet used to own The SoapBerry Shop in the mall, which she closed several years ago "because the mall was dying."

Sayong attributes the lack of customers in the lower end of the mall to the numerous empty retail spaces and the sealed-up exit on the 50 Street side.

The lower-level mall owner, British Columbia-based Huntingdon Capital Corporation, closed the entrance when the Bank of Montreal moved uptown in 2009.

The 1,280-square-metre space that formerly housed the bank has remained empty ever since.

A decade ago the mall had five entrances This winter there are only three.

"Closing the entrance was not good," Sayong said. "We lose customers."

Some tenants in the upper level of the mall, owned by Nova Scotia-based Royal Host Inc., are also dissatisfied with the lack of attention the absent landlords dedicate to improving business.

"The mall is not at capacity or anywhere close. There are a lot of open spaces," said Sasha Jason, who purchased Merle Norman Cosmetics and Spa almost two years ago. "It would be nice to see vendors in the mall, but our landlord is not of the North, so that seems to play a part in just the speed with which the spaces are filled."

Merle Norman's spa services make the business a destination location customers seek out, sparing it from the hit taken by other retail businesses that rely on walk-through traffic. However, Jason said the retail side of her business, which accounts for about 30 per cent of revenue, has declined this season.

"I attribute that to the lack of traffic and window-shoppers in general," she said. "We don't see a lot of traffic that's doing the typical Christmas window-shopping. We have our clients that come in, but they're here to see us. Other than that, it's very slow compared to previous years."

Khai Nguyen, an employee at the Yellowknife Inn Smoke Shop, said plenty of Japanese and Chinese tourists were buying souvenirs this past weekend, but not many residents were buying gifts compared to last year.

"There's not as much Christmas shopping," he said.

He suggests online shopping and intoxicated loiterers are keeping shoppers away.

Staff at The Source, who did not wish to be identified, told Yellowknifer business is down, due in large part to empty storefronts.

"Every time a store closes, we take a hit," the employee said.

Representatives from both mall landlords could not be reached for comment by press time.

Staff at several other stores in the upper and lower levels told Yellowknifer business is down this year due in large part to cold weather, empty storefronts, loitering and addiction issues.

Many staff expressed concern and compassion for the people they see in the mall who suffer from addiction or homelessness.

"The homelessness and addiction problems - I'd love to see that solved," Jason said. "It would be nice to see programs put into place to help those people, facilities where they could go to stay warm in the winter so they're not loitering, but all that takes time and money and effort.

"It would be nice in the future to see those initiatives put into place."

Not all businesses reported dips in sales. Arctic Jewellers employee Andrew Morland said the past two weeks have been "crazy" at the store.

"Last week was really busy, and it's been pretty steady," he said on Friday afternoon.

"There's generally always somebody in the store."

Rings and pendants featuring Canadian diamonds mined at Ekati and Diavik are the biggest sellers this year, he said.

Across the hall, clients from the Women's Shelter were also doing a brisk business on Friday at their bake sale table. Patricia Abel and Val Mitro were selling fresh loaves of banana bread, cookies and cupcakes.

"They're not home-baked - they're homeless-baked," Mitro said, with a laugh. "Last week, we did very well. We came with cinnamon buns and cookies, and we made more than $400."

The money will pay for a Christmas dinner for shelter residents and a few of their family members, as well as small gifts of toiletries, socks, and other simple necessities to share with other shelter clients.

Mitro, who has been a shelter client for more than two years, often does casual work at the shelter. She baked many of the delicious goodies with tender loving care, alongside several other volunteers.

"Have a Merry Christmas," she said, smiling at customers and passers-by.

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