Halifax’s retail sector experienced notable growth in 2024, according to a local online retail news publication.

Halifax ReTales reported that the city saw 193 retail businesses open and 104 close in 2024, resulting in a ratio of 1.86 openings for every closure.

“We’re still on the up,” ReTales Publisher Arthur Gaudreau told CBC Radio.

Retales meticulously tracks the openings and closures of retail locations across the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).

The 2024 increase represents a marked improvement from 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the ratio was 1.22 businesses opened for every one closed.

While 2024 was a year of growth, the city did lose some long-standing establishments. Maritime Hobbies on Grafton Street, Canada’s oldest hobby shop, shut its doors, as did cherished eateries such as El Chino and Mary’s Place Café 2.

“A lot of what we lost was due to development,” said Gaudreau, citing the demolition of historic homes on Queen Street, locally known as “vintage row.”

However, new businesses have quickly filled vacated spaces.

“There’s lots of opportunity, and I can’t see us not growing again next year,” said Gaudreau.

Looking ahead, Gaudreau predicts continued retail-sector growth spurred by emerging trends. He highlighted the resurgence of specialized shops, such as butchers and bakers, as a response to frustrations with large grocery chains.

“I think that’s due to the fact that the grocery stores have gone and infuriated us,” he told CBC.

Changes are also on the horizon for Halifax’s Hydrostone Market. A third location of the Brown Hound Public House is set to open, while LK Yarns, a staple of the market for three decades, will move to a nearby location, according to Gaudreau. Additionally, a new No Frills grocery store will be opening in the Woodside neighbourhood, and Spring Garden Road is expected to attract more high-end retailers.

Gaudreau remains optimistic about the city’s trajectory.

“There’s lots of opportunity, and I can’t see us not growing again next year,” he told CBC.

Photo: Mystic Stock Photography / Shutterstock.com