After five years in business, the Daffodil Gallery, located on 124 Street, is set to permanently close its doors on December 22, 2015.

Gallery co-owner Karen Bishop said the move is largely due to major construction delays on the 102 Avenue bridge over Groat Road.

“Traffic flow has been a big issue on the street. Signage essentially says 'closed' everywhere, [which] has a perception in people’s minds that the [entire] area is closed,” she explained.

According to Bishop, people just want to get through the area or do what they can to avoid it.

“Parking has been a mess, traffic flow has been a mess. It seems like people don’t really know what to do or where to go,” she said.

Partly blamed on the slumping economy and scaffolding currently on the exterior of the building, the Daffodil Gallery, has experienced a 60 per cent sales decrease so far in 2015.

“We don’t want to close, but at some point you have to stop putting your own money in – it’s just not sustainable anymore.”

The $32 million bridge project fell behind earlier this year when a number of the steel girders buckled. In October, City officials announced the bridge would not open to traffic until the fall of 2016.

While Bishop has tried various strategies to get people in the door, it’s not enough to stay afloat.

“We’ve been trying to participate in a lot of things on 124 Street which has been fabulous. Unfortunately, your rent doesn’t change. In fact, it seems to go up and with declining sales, that gap has just got bigger and bigger.”

“Mostly I’m sad that I won’t be part of the community here anymore. Ya…that’s pretty sad.”

The gallery, which represents around 40 contemporary local artists, will hold a special sale from December 19 to 22.

With files from Kim Smith