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She is joining the beloved D.A.D.’s Bagels farther down Sherbrooke St., which after 20 years in the community was told by the landlord to pack up its brick oven and go in order to allow the expansion of a Dollarama chain store. “We’re competing against dollar stores, big chains, big box stores,” Waring says. “And what I see clearly here is no support, no consultation.”

Small independent shops are closing down and making way for Starbucks and other chains, says Alexandra Dawson, Concordia University management professor and director of the Concordia Small Business Consulting Bureau. “It does depend on municipalities and it’s a phenomenon that you see in all big cities — gentrification brings a uniformity.”

A newly minted N.D.G. merchants’ association, the Association pour le promotion de la rue Ouest Sherbrooke, is trying to find solutions to the problems encountered by small business owners. “People are cautious about expenses, commercial taxes are high and the mega hospital has created speculation on the value of property here, despite the empty storefronts,” says founder Kurt Houghton. “We need to promote ourselves to get people to shop locally instead of at big box stores.”