“It’s bittersweet. I hate the idea of moving out, leaving this but as you know, I’m not making any money here,” says Economy Shoe Shop (1663 Argyle Street) owner Victor Syperek matter-of-factly of his decision to sell the iconic Halifax bar after 22 years on Argyle Street.
He dropped the bomb that he was handing over its keys to Toothy Moose owner Brad Hartlin live on CBC’s Mainstreet last week. Now, he’ll zero his focus in on his Gottingen Street ventures, The Seahorse, Marquee Ballroom and The Local.
“The final straw was tearing up the road this summer. I cannot survive with no business this summer, and I think it’s going to kill everyone on the street,” he says of the plans to kick start the Argyle Street streetscape project this summer. “They’ve put the nail in the coffin.”
They, Syperek says, are both the developer and the city, both of whom he says have been inconsiderate and then some.
“The entire schedule is wrapped around the convention centre and not the people who’ve been here for years,” he says. “I think the city could have been a lot more proactive in this whole thing.”
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This article appears in Apr 6-12, 2017.
I stopped going here, even though it’s one of my favorite spots, after I heard about the explosion that injured a few of his kitchen workers due to his failure to do maintenance on his gas cooking appliances for several years. Gas code requires maintenance every 6 months. His initial reaction upon hearing the news? No concern for his employees who suffered 3rd degree burns, or even his customers, his first reaction was how much is this going to cost me. This guy is a well known scumbag with enemies all over town. Known many of his employees, they all say the same thing. He’s a cheapskate penny pinching dirtbag. Good riddance. Hopefully the new owners won’t be dirtbags who make their low wage workers work in life threatening conditions like cooking equipment that’s essentially a ticking time bomb. And he changed the best nachos in the city! They were so good! Screw you Victor.