Several shop owners in Sackville, New Brunswick, are being told to take their business elsewhere — literally — as they were recently informed that an upcoming “redevelopment” will force the relocation of businesses and residential tenants in the community’s downtown by next year. Miriam Lapp, co-owner of Blind Forest Books, has seen her store become a staple of the York Street business community in Sackville throughout the last seven years. After clearing up some outstanding business loans in 2023, she said her business was finally beginning to thrive.
That was until she received a letter from her landlord informing her that she needed to be out by April 30, 2025. “We were gutted, so upset,” she said during an interview with Global News on Monday. In addition to Lapp’s bookstore, three other businesses and several other residential tenants will have to pack up and move.
“We’re all just heartbroken,” she said. “It’s really hard to see where we might be able to move. In the downtown core, there’s very little retail space available,” she said, adding that she’s renewed her lease every two years since first moving into her York Street location.
Lapp said one of her biggest challenges moving forward will be gathering more than 30,000 used books and transporting them to another space.
Despite suggestions to relocate to nearby communities like Amherst, she said she hopes to “keep the dream alive” and remain in her hometown of Sackville. She’s actively searching for a new storefront location in the area.
“A used bookstore is such an important fixture to have in a town to make books accessible to all walks of life who really do all come and shop here,” she said.
Lapp said she doesn’t have any details regarding the building owner’s renovation plans. “Everyone is heartbroken. Everyone can’t believe that the adorable face of Sackville and all of its cute little shops is now being threatened,” she said.
Atlantic Industries Ltd., the company that owns the properties, confirmed these letters sent to tenants were real but didn’t provide further details when contacted by Global News on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Municipality of Sackville also declined to comment on whether there is a development plan in place for the area.
Holly Wry, a Sackville resident, said her community is saddened that some of these businesses will be removed from the downtown core. “The word on the street (is) the disappointment from the excitement of having a new business interjected and then taken away from the community,” she said, adding that these local shops and heritage properties are a central component of the downtown’s appeal. “I think we have that small-town vibe and I thought that’s what everybody’s goal was, in the community, to maintain that and that is part of the draw for Sackville and we’re proud of that.”
Wry said it’s “a shame” that these businesses will be moved out of the area.
Despite not being able to renew her lease this time around, Lapp said her landlord committed to reducing her monthly rent once her two-year agreement expires in September — while she works to find a new location before her April move date. “That’s a nice cushion for us, especially where those months will need to be spent getting all of these 30,000 books out of here and figuring out where to put them next,” she said.
Lapp said she doesn’t plan on closing her business due to the upcoming move.
— with files from Suzanne Lapointe
