Bar baron Victor Syperek says this is the worst winter for business he’s seen in his 14 years in Halifax.
Syperek, who owns downtown bars such as the Economy Shoe Shop, the Seahorse and The Press Gang, says business is down about 10 per cent over last year.
And he’s not just blaming bad economic times. He says snowstorms and an over-zealous “parking Gestapo” enforcing the winter parking ban are killing downtown bars.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the economic downturn, I’d say it’s this idiotic city dealing with snow,” said Syperek.
“I understand snow removal is an important thing, but they go around putting tickets on every car even when there’s no snowplows around. And they forget why they’re clearing the roads; it’s so we can have business downtown. Yet they do their best to discourage it.”
Syperek said other downtown bars are potentially doing much worse than his, but he hopes a busy summer period can make up for lost revenue.
