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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
One of Yellowknife's well-known food vendors is looking for a year-round location and is running up against some frustrating obstacles in his quest.

Robin Wasicuna stands before his food trailer, which began operating in 2011, with a braised short rib sandwich. - NNSL file photo

"There are contracts in place in the malls where no similar businesses are allowed to open up in the those malls," said Robin Wasicuna, chef and owner of Wiseguy Foods. "It kind of doesn't make a lot of sense to me. How is a town that is screaming for growth and screaming for expansion supposed to grow and expand when basically one (business) has to go out of business and another one has to replace it?"

Wasicuna said he recently inquired about leasing a location in the YK Centre but was told he could not open a Wiseguy Foods location there because there was already a food-serving establishment in the building.

He said he was told that allowing a second establishment would violate a private contract already in place.

Hughie Graham, manager of tenant services for NPR Limited Partnership, which owns YK Centre, said he couldn't discuss the details of specific tenant contracts, but did could say that restrictions like this, called restrictive covenants or exclusive rights, are sometimes included in leasing contracts which are negotiated with tenants.

Graham said allowing leases that include restrictive covenants or exclusive rights doesn't hamper NPR's ability to fill spaces and instead benefits the mall by creating a balanced selection of business.

"The YK Centre has been here for 35 years and we've had some of the best tenants for over 35 years," said Graham. "How do we do that? We try to foster good business relationships with those people and try to put in a good mix of retail that would have Yellowknifers come to our mall and spend some time rather than go to one store and then leave."

That means keeping a selection of retail and minimizing the competition between each.

In Wasicuna's opinion, the restrictions, which protect businesses already located in the building, might make more sense in a larger city but in Yellowknife, where options are sparse, they make setting up shop difficult.

He said he doesn't blame NPR for the situation, but sees the situation as an example of a wider problem in Yellowknife business.

"We don't have a lot of options, unless you want to drop $500,000 and open a brand new place and I don't know too many people who can afford to do that," he said.

Wasicuna said he is looking for a location with affordable rent and with kitchen equipment already available so that he would not need to disassemble the food trailer.

If a suitable location doesn't open up, Wiseguy Foods might be looking for a new area code, said Wasicuna.

"It's an option," he said. "I'm not going to stop working for myself, especially now. The ball is just getting rolling on my career as chef and owner of my own company and I'm just not going to stop. If that means I have to go somewhere else, then I will."

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