MONTREAL -- Several record store owners in Mile End have received warnings and $2,900 in fines from provincial inspectors for keeping their businesses open beyond their regulated opening hours.
“We need to stay open later just to pay the bills,” the co-owner of Phonopolis, Jordan Robson-Cramer says, adding, “these fines are not helping local merchants who are struggling just to stay alive.”
Robson-Cramer is coming forward with their plight at the same time as the Montreal’s Public Consultation Office is holding hearings about how to address all the city’s vacant commercial spaces, and better support local retailers.
The store owners say they feel targeted because the inspectors issued their initial warnings to all four record stores on April 13, which is ‘Record Store Day’ in Canada.
Since opening the store in 2011, Phonopolis has kept its doors open a few hours longer than permitted, which is supposed to be 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
“We need to be able to stay open a bit later during the spring and summer to capitalize on tourist season,” Robson-Cramer says. “In these tough economic times, it doesn’t make sense to kick people out of the shop.”
In response to the warning from the Quebec Justice Ministry inspector, Phonopolis says it changed its operating hours to confirm with provincial regulations, and updated its website accordingly.
Yet, Phonopolis and the others are still on the hook for the hefty fines they were ordered to pay about one month ago.
The merchants are trying to determine if they qualify for an exemption usually granted to businesses situated in a tourist zone. However, Robson-Cramer says they’ve been unable to obtain the relevant information they need from the City of Montreal to pursue that avenue.
“The time we’ve spent trying to fight this and get answers is only sinking us further into debt,” says the Phonopolis co-owner. He says he thinks it’s time to change the rules and give Montreal’s independent retailers more flexibility to help their businesses thrive.
