Mega-successful cruise season and all things fried chicken related also dominated business stories for 2024

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The economic boon offset by Sydney hosting this year’s World Women’s Curling Championship. A new airline focusing on the lost Sydney-Halifax route. The hullabaloo over the Cape Breton Farmers’ Market’s lockout in downtown Sydney and ultimate relocation to the North Sydney Exhibition grounds.

These items offer just a sampling of what made the Cape Breton Post’s top business stories for 2024.

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1. CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP’S ECONOMIC IMPACT

Chews Local by CB Eats posted this image on Facebook of Doktor Luke's coffee cups at Team Canada's bench during the World Women's Curling Championship. The cafe, along with other businesses in downtown Sydney, welcomed curlers, fans and everyone in between through their doors over the nine-day tournament. CONTRIBUTED
Chews Local by CB Eats posted this image on Facebook of Doktor Luke’s coffee cups at Team Canada’s bench during the World Women’s Curling Championship in mid-March, Photo by CONTRIBUTED

For many businesses struggling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, the opportunity of Sydney hosting an international curling event was considered a potential lifeline.

And when all was said and done, the 2024 World Women’s Curling Championship — held March 16-24 at Centre 200 in Sydney — brought an estimated economic impact of almost $12 million to Cape Breton, based on a comprehensive report produced by Sport Tourism Canada.

According to the report’s details unveiled by the CBRM, the combined spending of out-of-town participants, delegates, and spectators who visited Sydney for the event, in combination with the expenditures made by the event organizers, totalled just over $10 million — supporting just under $13.8 million in overall economic activity in Nova Scotia, including almost $11.9 million in economic activity in the Sydney area.

The combined purchase of goods and services by the event organizers and local partners totalled just under $1.3 million. The championships also supported nearly $4.3 million in federal, provincial and local tax revenues across Canada.

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Compare that to the economic impact from Centre 200 hosting the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. According to that year’s Economic Impact Assessment report from a consultant with the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance, the Scotties generated $3.4 million in economic activity in the Sydney area.

Further, the reported noted, this was part of a total of $7.8 million in economic activity in Nova Scotia, supported by spending from spectators, participants, media, sponsors and organizers.

Curling fans were certainly ecstatic with the world women’s tournament, too.

Visitor statistics derived from an on-site survey conducted during the event indicate that 31 per cent of respondents extended their stay in Sydney, Cape Breton and Nova Scotia by an average of 3.6 days beyond the event.

Furthermore, 76.6 per cent of respondents expressed a high likelihood of returning to Sydney, Cape Breton or Nova Scotia in the future.

2. PASCAN AVIATION

Pascan Aviation president and CEO Julian Roberts, left, and Sydney airport CEO Myles Tuttle in front of one of Pascan's planes at the airport on Thursday. Pascan will begin serving Sydney in October, running a route to and from Halifax daily. LUKE DYMENT/CAPE BRETON POST
Pascan Aviation president and CEO Julian Roberts, left, and McCurdy Sydney Airport CEO Myles Tuttle in front of one of Pascan’s planes at the airport in October. Photo by CAPE BRETON POST

In the aftermath of the pandemic and some airline restructuring, the J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport (now rebranded as the McCurdy Sydney Airport) wound up operating with just one airline, Air Canada, and only limited routes for passenger travel: Sydney-Montreal or Sydney-Toronto.

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Would the airport ever see a return of a Sydney-Halifax route? In 2024, the answer became a resounding yes.

Quebec-based Pascan Aviation announced in August it would operate its service between Sydney and Halifax. Its schedule would include daily return trips from Sydney on weekdays, and on weekends, a flight would depart Sydney on Saturday and return on Sunday.

“It’s been a long time in the works and for even longer, there’s been community demand for that,” said Myles Tuttle, the airport’s new chief executive who was hired in April.

Pascan CEO Julian Roberts told reporters in August he hoped the airline will eventually build more connections between Sydney and the rest of the country via the Halifax route.

On Oct. 7, the Sydney-Halifax route became a reality, with nearly all 30 seats aboard Pascan’s SAAB 340B-model aircraft filled for its inaugural trip to the Nova Scotia capital.

4. FARMERS’ MARKET FINDS NEW DIGS

Cape Breton Farmers' Market manager Pauline Singer
Pauline Singer, the now-former manager of the Cape Breton Farmers’ Market, shown just after the market’s downtown Sydney space was shuttered in May. Photo by IAN NATHANSON /CAPE BRETON POST FILES

On May 7, the Cape Breton Farmers’ Market’s manager, Pauline Singer, and its board members arrived at their 15 Falmouth St. setup, only to find the locks had been changed and a security guard placed on site to deter anyone from entering.

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All without any advance notice, according to a Facebook post sent out that day.

Singer suspected the abrupt closure may have been linked to property taxes owed to their landlord —something she said she has been transparent about for quite some time. But she added the board was willing to sit down and discuss the matter with their landlord.

“We are not denying that we owe the back taxes. We absolutely do,” Singer said on May 8. “But the tax account is not in our name. It’s in the landlord’s name and we rely on them to send us an invoice as to what we owe. We wanted to sit down and come up with a way to pay these back.”

Their building — which the market occupied since late 2018 — is owned by D. MacPhee Realty Ltd. of 424 Charlotte St. Previous Post stories on the market mentioned co-landlords as Phil Dubinsky and his wife, Dianne MacPhee.

The landlords deferred all comments to their lawyer, Tony Mozvik of McInnes Cooper in Sydney.

Mozvik told the Post on May 8 the reason for the lockout was that the organization is in violation of the lease.

“They owe, give or take, about $70,000 in tax, rent/taxes/other ancillary amounts they owe, including that they haven’t even paid this month’s rent yet. And in the (previous) six months, the rent has been paid in piecemeal, whereas it’s supposed to be due on the first of every month,” he had said.

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Ongoing negotiations at the time included, according to Mozvik, an offer put forth to wipe out roughly $80,000 in arrears owed to the landlords.

The abrupt market closure also meant its vendors could not access the facility for weeks, even after finally settling into its new, albeit temporary, digs in June on the Cape Breton Exhibition Grounds in North Sydney.

However, near the end of June, vendors at the former location were allowed to pick up the remainder of their items at the 15 Falmouth St. site.

Singer recently told the Post that as of September she is no longer the market’s manager.

4. CRUISE SHIP SEASON

Cruise ship passengers aboard the Oceania Insignia take a tour, seen here at the Big Fiddle at the Port of Sydney on Saturday morning. The Insignia, which can accommodate up to 670 passengers and 400 crew, was the final ship to visit Sydney in the 2024 cruise season. 2024 is expected to be a record one for passengers and ships visiting the port - more than 200,000 passengers may have visited Sydney over the season aboard 115 different ships. LUKE DYMENT/CAPE BRETON POST
Cruise ship passengers aboard the Oceania Insignia take a tour, seen here at the Big Fiddle at the Port of Sydney on Nov. 2. The Insignia, which can accommodate up to 670 passengers and 400 crew, was the final ship to visit Sydney in the 2024 cruise season. Photo by CAPE BRETON POST

The Port of Sydney marked another record-setting year for cruise ship visits in 2024.

The local cruise terminal just off the Esplanade welcomed a record-breaking 117 vessels to the port between April 7, its earliest start date, and Nov. 2. Overall, 20 cruise lines and more than 213,000 passengers embarked at the Sydney port, and that’s not including crew members on those ships.

During the season, the Port of Sydney saw a rise in summer calls. It also had one overnight call along with 30 double-ship days, as well as three triple ship and one quadruple ship days.

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A highlight of the season came on Oct. 2, when Sydney harbour welcomed four ships — including the iconic Queen Mary 2 at the main deck.

As Nicole MacAulay, the Port of Sydney’s manager of cruise, told the Post in late November, “We’re putting the final touches on the 2025 cruise schedule, and we’ll be sharing that in the early new year — it’s looking strong.”

5. FRIED CHICKEN FRANCHISE FRENZY

Mary Brown's Chicken opens in Sydney
Vehicles line up at the Mary Brown’s Chicken drive-thru at 224 Welton St. in Sydney on Dec. 16, marking the fast-food chain’s return to Cape Breton in decades. Photo by CHRIS CONNORS /CAPE BRETON POST

Fried chicken lovers within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (and beyond) are certainly getting their moment in the spotlight.

First, there was Glace Bay’s Chicken Shack spreading its wings, so to speak, by adding a second location on Kings Road in Sydney River.

That followed with the one-two punch of franchise announcements: Mary Brown’s Chicken and Popeyes coming to Sydney.

Mary Brown’s previously had a Sydney location sometime in the last century, but up until this year the closest location to Cape Breton could be found in the Bayside Travel Centre along Trans-Canada Highway 104 near Paq’tnkek Mi’kmaw Nation.

But thanks to an aggressive campaign from 2022 onward to seek new Maritimes franchisees, that ultimately led to the opening a Sydney location (224 Welton St.).

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As for Popeyes, speculation of a Sydney location began in February, stemming from the American Louisiana-style chicken chain’s online store locator feature, which displayed a Sydney location at 412 Grand Lake Rd., formerly home to a Tim Hortons and Needs Convenience Store.

According to Nova Scotia’s Property Online tool, The TDL Group (the licensing company for Tim Hortons) and Dartmouth-based Keel Brands Limited agreed on a 20-year lease in September 2023, which came into effect last January.

Then April, Keel Brands Limited president Mark Greatorex confirmed with the Post that it had its eyes set on soon bringing the restaurant to Sydney — specifically, at 412 Grand Lake Rd.

It too is part of an aggressive store-opening campaign, with locations already open in Halifax, Bedford and Lower Sackville. The Sydney location is still currently under construction.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Louann MacDonald, the owner of Louann's Cafe, at her new storefront on Wentworth Street in Sydney. MacDonald said from the day post-tropical storm Fiona's damages forced her from the old location, she's had her eyes set on a return. LUKE DYMENT/CAPE BRETON POST - LUKE DYMENT/CAPE BRETON POST
Louann MacDonald, the owner of Louann’s Cafe, inside her Wentworth Street location in Sydney. Though she had moved to this location in March, she has since moved back to her former location at the corner of Prince and Charlotte streets in November. Photo by CAPE BRETON POST

Louann’s Café: The Louann MacDonald-owned café had to relocate to elsewhere in Sydney after 2022’s post-tropical storm Fiona caused extensive damage to her original location at the back end of the former Crowell’s building on the corner of Charlotte and Prince streets.

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After a long search, MacDonald reopened in March at 14 Wentworth Street, near the Esplanade.

Although relieved to have found a new space, she did note in one Facebook post that the location was much smaller than she liked.

Then in October, MacDonald announced via Facebook that “I was offered my old retail spot. … So without a doubt, I have made the decision to pack up my things and head back to where it all began.”

As of Nov. 25, Louanne’s Café returned to its old digs on Prince Street, though its address lists it as 319 Charlotte St..

Cape Breton Curiosity Shop owner Peggy MacAdam
Cape Breton Curiosity Shop owner Peggy MacAdam, who closed her newly located shop last month, died on Dec. 18. She was 73. Photo by CHRIS CONNORS /CAPE BRETON POST

Cape Breton Curiosity Shop:

The Peggy MacAdam-owned go-to stop for anyone looking to take a little piece of Cape Breton home — whether from the clothing or jewelry items, tasteful trinkets, CDs or books from local artists and writers that she sold — found a new home for her business in 2024.

But not for long, it turned out.

After relocating in the spring from her former digs at 296 Charlotte St. to the former Port City Grocery location (300 Charlotte St.), MacAdam announced in mid-November that after more than three decades in business, it was time for her to retire.

Her shop officially shuttered for good last month. Then on Dec. 18, MacAdam died at the age of 73.

— With files from Cape Breton Post staff

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