‘A pillar in this community’: Winnipeg thrift store closing after 16 years due to high costs, crime

Retail crime is a growing concern for many Manitobans following Friday’s one-of-a-kind summit, which gathered leaders from various industries, including government officials, to discuss how to best move forward to address retail crime.

In the meantime, however, many businesses continue to struggle, with some in Winnipeg even choosing to close their doors.

One of those businesses is thrift store D’Arcy’s ARC, which will be closing its doors permanently at the end of December. Manager Sydney Burnham says a big reason is rising costs in operating and the store’s lease ending. But she also cited high crime in the area and retail theft being a concern.

The thrift store is owned by D’Arcy Johnston, who runs D’Arcy’s Animal Rescue Centre, also known simply as D’Arcy’s ARC — with the store supporting the shelter.

“This store, it’s been here for 16 years, and it is a pillar in this community,” Burnham told CityNews. “There’s not a lot of stores that have been here this long. We support this community by offering low-cost clothing, footwear, housewares and most importantly animal supplies. There’s not very many places that have that.

“The problems that are going on in the city are going on here, too. So we have theft and drugs and aggression. That sort of stuff.”

The Honourable Raymond Wyant, former Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba, spoke at Friday’s summit. He says a solution many leaders are looking to is something he’s calling a community court.

“We have a significant crisis in this community but in communities across the country due to a lot of complicated factors but particularly the increased use and availability of street drugs,” Wyant said.

“This is a therapeutic type of court that would partner with community resources and provide wraparound services for people so that we can manage people’s risk in the community. We can’t incarcerate our way out of the problems that we have right now but certainly I think as a community, as a collective, we can work together to manage people’s risk and provide alternatives to incarceration and keep people away from crime.”

Until changes are made, however, business closures like D’Arcy’s ARC Thrift Store mean less resources for the families it serves.

“Once we put the announcements up, it was very interesting that people were really, really kind about it,” Burnham said. “They came in to say, ‘oh my God, why are you closing? I love it here,’ and telling us how much they cared about this store and how much it meant to them.”