The Pulse: March 28, 2025

The owners of the Violets boutique say their upcoming move from McCauley to a spot on Whyte Avenue directly west of the Mill Creek Ravine fulfills a long-held desire to be part of the charm of the surrounding small business community.

The new Violets, which sells home goods, clothing, accessories, stationery, and more, will be located at 9612 82 Avenue NW. Co-owners Danielle Ferchoff and Robyn Smart are optimistic the new store will open (along with current storemate Love Object) by July 1, when their current lease is up. They first inquired about the space in 2022, but things didn’t work out. But when new owner Blais Realty Group was renovating it in 2024, the two jumped at the chance for a lease.

“Not only with that being our dream area, even before we opened in McCauley, I just think we already have really great connections and relationships with the other businesses,” Ferchoff told Taproot. “We really seem to work well with everyone over there — not that we don’t in McCauley — but we’re just really excited for a new cluster of businesses.”

That cluster includes Weekly, Take Care Cafe, Color de Vino, Maven & Grace, Mill Creek Cafe, and Darling, which Taproot covered the opening of in 2023.

Ferchoff and Smart said Whyte Avenue east of 99 Street NW has appealed to them more than the more established business area to the west. Ferchoff said that the latter area has changed.

“When we were kids, there were lots of independent, small businesses, and ‘main’ Whyte Ave, to us, doesn’t really feel like that anymore,” Ferchoff said. “The Mill Creek area is special … you’re not next to a Winners.”

Ferchoff and Smart said their current location at 10816 95 Street NW is special, too. In an Instagram announcement about the move, Violets named Paper Birch Books and True Blue Barber & Shop as two kindred businesses that opened after their own.

“We grew a lot in McCauley … and McCauley is growing a lot, so it does feel like we’re leaving at a time of growth,” Smart told Taproot.

• The annual elm tree pruning ban will be in effect from April 1 to Sept. 30 to help prevent the spread of Dutch elm disease, which was identified five times in Edmonton in 2024. Residents are asked to prune dead and dying elm tree branches between October and March, avoid bringing in firewood from other jurisdictions, and call 311 if they see signs of Dutch elm disease.
• While the City of Edmonton says its permitting process is among the best in Canada, some business owners told Global News that permit delays have caused significant financial strain, including the owners of Rootbar Salon and the Bonnie Neighbourhood Pub. The City issued 10,000 business licenses in 2024, with permitting and approvals processed 30% faster than the previous year, and an exit survey found 90% of applicants were satisfied, Global News reported.
• Edmonton Global published part two of a blog series on how U.S. tariffs could affect the Edmonton region. Jeff Bell, the organization’s director of research, wrote there is “broad agreement” the region will be affected, but it’s not clear how much. Sectors will be affected differently, with tariffs currently at 250% on dairy, 40% on forestry, 10% on oil and electricity, and 25% on most other goods. Early estimates suggest tariffs could reduce regional GDP by $5 billion to $11 billion over the next few years, Bell wrote.
• Parkland County revoked a development permit for GraceLife Church, which applied last year to add 50,000 square feet to its existing facility. The county said it revoked the permit because of traffic and parking concerns. Residents who appealed the permit also said the church isn’t a good neighbour. The church made headlines in 2021 for bringing hundreds of people together for service in defiance of COVID-19 public health measures.
• Nanoprecise Sci Corp, an Edmonton-based company, secured US$38 million in Series C funding from investors including Yaletown Partners, BDC’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, Export Development Canada, BMO Capital Partners, and CIBC Innovation Banking. The funding will help NanoPrecise scale its Energy-Centered Maintenance approach, which uses AI to help industrial sites maintain equipment more efficiently and save energy.
• The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta has sanctioned Edmonton doctor Roger Hodkinson, a pathologist, for making false claims about COVID-19 pandemic health measures in 2020 and 2021. The regulator said Hodkinson’s comments “fell outside the scope of practice of a pathologist, and were inconsistent with accepted public health medicine guidelines.”
• Alberta has a “strong showing” on this year’s National Awards for Housing Excellence from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, Postmedia reported. Most of the Alberta builders nominated for awards are in Calgary, but Vicky’s Homes accounted for nearly half of Edmonton’s 20 finalist spots. Results will be announced May 15.
• Explore Edmonton sponsored an article in National Geographic highlighting seven reasons to visit Edmonton, including river valley landscapes, Indigenous cultural experiences, and local festivals.
• The Edmonton Oilers have recalled goaltender Olivier Rodrigue from the Bakersfield Condors on an “emergency basis” after Stuart Skinner left the game on March 27 following a collision with a Dallas Stars player. Head coach Kris Knoblauch said Skinner won’t join the team’s road trip.
• Edmonton will host two international rugby matches in July, with the Canada Men’s Rugby Team scheduled to take on Belgium and Spain in Clarke Stadium. Canada will play Belgium on July 12, followed by Spain on July 18. Tickets cost $40 and go on sale in April.
• Sean Chilton, senior vice-president of clinical operations for Alberta Health Services, filed a sworn statement claiming former CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos breached her employment agreement by improperly forwarding 11 emails to her personal account one day before she was fired Jan. 8, which the statement alleges was a fireable offence. Mentzelopoulos’s lawyer said she “denies any misuse of the information in the emails.”
• Premier Danielle Smith travelled to Florida to speak with far-right commentator Ben Shapiro on March 27 as part of a gala fundraiser for PragerU. Shapiro has repeated President Donald Trump’s remarks about wanting to make Canada a 51st state, while PragerU has been criticized for creating “propaganda” and poorly teaching American slavery and other topics, CBC reported.

On this day in 1936, the Hudson’s Bay store downtown was undergoing another major addition.

The current three-storey building has been an enduring part of Edmonton’s downtown for more than 85 years. However, this building is not the first Hudson’s Bay store to be built there, nor the second, nor the third. There have been four different such stores, including the current one on Jasper Avenue and 103 Street.

The company, founded in 1670 in London, opened its first stand-alone store in Edmonton in 1890. The two-storey wooden shop sold general goods, as well as mining and farming equipment. The early 1900s were a time of explosive growth for Edmonton, and the store grew along with it. Soon, The Bay store had expanded into a sturdy brick building that stretched half a block.

In 1912, the HBC began a massive modernization project, which included building flagship department stores across Western Canada (parts of which The Bay technically “owned” at one point in its history when these areas were known as Rupert’s Land). Calgary was the first of what became known as the “original six” stores. Similar stores soon followed in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Victoria, and Vancouver.

Edmonton’s growth slowed in the mid-1910s, but the HBC store was remarkably successful. Over the next decades, it expanded at least nine times, including the 1936 plan that turned the fifth-floor storeroom into a showroom focused on radios, refrigerators, and other modern luxuries. This success came at a cost, however. The spontaneous additions and renovations led to an unsightly hodgepodge of a building, with uneven floors and other construction issues.

In 1938, construction began on the current Bay building. The enormous, two-storey department store, built of limestone, cost $1 million to construct. It was a complicated process, as the company decided to keep the store open while its replacement was built on the same site. That meant a lot of shuffling around. Sometimes entire departments would be packed up after closing hours, moved to a new location, and made ready for business by opening the next day. Some parts of the old building were so reinforced that they had to be demolished with explosives.

The new building was adorned with six carvings on its facade that depict the company’s coat of arms and other (sanitized) parts of its history. When the new HBC store opened in 1939, it drew 20,000 people. This new store saw a few more additions in the latter half of the century, including a full third floor. It was designated as a municipal historical resource in 1989.

After more than a century in the same location, HBC closed the department store in 1995 and moved to a location in City Centre Mall. In 2005, the University of Alberta purchased the building and renamed it Enterprise Square. It now houses administrative and support departments, as well as continuing education facilities.

The old HBC building is a structure that is now likely to outlive the company that built it. The Bay has recently begun liquidating all but six of its stores. All of its locations in Alberta, including its Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th stores, are part of the closure and are expected to be vacated by the end of June.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton’s history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.

Here are some events happening this weekend in the Edmonton area.

• March 28: Practical AI: How we can use current AI tools to achieve meaningful results starting at 8:30am at Royal Glenora Club
• March 28: Jabulani Festival Prelaunch starting at 7pm at The Orange Hub
• March 28: 81st Annual Spring Concert starting at 7:30pm at Winspear Centre
• March 28-29: AFRO ERA - Sounds Across Generations at Double Dragon
• March 28-30: GOBfest at Alberta Avenue Community Centre
• March 29: Inclusive Health Conference starting at 9am at Lister Centre
• March 29: Sturgeon County Country Living Expo starting at 10am at Morinville Community Cultural Centre
• March 29: Special Event: Douglas Roche starting at 3pm at Audreys Books
• March 29: Paddling Film Festival starting at 5pm at NAIT Shaw Theatre
• March 29: Refinery: The Grand Circus starting at 8pm at Art Gallery of Alberta
• March 30: Vagabond Fondue Pop-Up at The Monolith starting at 5pm at Monolith Blind Enthusiasm Brewery

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• April 10: Unlocking the Economic Potential of Data Centres in Alberta at Chateau Lacombe Hotel
• April 10: Student Pitch Competition: Yatscoff Family Award in Medical Entrepreneurship at University of Alberta (Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre)
• April 12: Safer For All Film Screening at ArtsHub Ortona

Visit the beta version of the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.