Jul 25, 2025
Northern Ontario

“It’s an improvement for sure but my wife still refuses to come down here.” 

(Can’t read the full email – click here for the online version.)

When I was growing up, downtown was the place to go. My father’s law practice was located in a new building a block from Main Street, across from the Empire Hotel – famous for hosting James Gagney during a film shoot in 1942 and Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh during their first Royal visit to Canada in 1951.

Main street had a host of other businesses, including a classic men’s clothing store. I remember the smell of leather and the creak of the hardwood floors. 

From the late 70s to early 80s, however, many businesses left the downtown for the suburbs. Vacancy and vagrancy filled the vacuum. The latter to such an extent that a friend told me recently his wife refused to go there.

This week we decided to check out the farmers market, downtown. This is situated at the site of what was the main train station of the trans-continental, Canadian Pacific Railway. A station was built here, on the shores of Lake Nipissing back in 1881, with the current building being erected in 1901. 

Here, we met up with an old friend of mine. Back when we were young and energetic, he joined me on a road trip that took us to Vancouver, BC, down the Pacific coast to San Diego and back. 

After reminiscing this and other escapades, we wandered down the Main Street back to our car. Up ahead, a trio of musicians was playing in front of a renovated building. Coincidentally, one of them was a friend and a fellow I knew from my youth.

Soon after our reacquaintance, a younger man exited the building behind the musicians. Turned out it was the son of our friend. He and his partners had purchased the property 10 years ago after a fire and had completed renovations while maintaining the heritage of the building.

The building had been known as the “Cochrane Block” built in 1911. For 70 years it had been the place of business for one of the North’s most prosperous hardware store chains, knows as Cochrane-Dunlop Hardware. 

The new building’s owner beamed with pride and confidence as he told us the upper 2 floors were occupied by several prominent professional firms with the main floor hosting one of the city’s best new restaurant/pubs. 

It seems that finally, younger entrepreneurs like the new owner of the “Block” are working hard at turning eyesores and decay into desirous, successful locations. For sure, the type of business that will lure people downtown must be different and unique from what is offered in the suburban malls, but there was a sense that this was happening.

What I like especially about this fellow’s business model is that they own an asset – the building. One that in turn has attracted stable, long-term, regular, monthly paying customers. An asset that receives a regular, attractive flow of cash. One that will always be that much more easily sold.

Now, I am not recommending you, as business owners, to necessarily become property owners. No, that is not the lesson.

What you should be focusing on is how to structure your businesses so that you attract clients and customers that buy from you regularly, consistently and reliably over long periods of time. It is no accident that some of the most profitable and long-lasting companies are utilities. Think Telephone, gas, electricity etc. 

Figure out how to turn your business into a “utility-like” company and watch your profits soar.

To learn more on how to create such a business, click here to take advantage of my free and low-cost DIY training. 

Until next week, 

Stay healthy and focus on profit! 

 - Hugh 
The “Profit Accelerator” Expert

P.S: Most business owners and consultants, do not have clear ideas on how and where to find improvements in the businesses they manage or advise. That’s why we created Profit Acceleration Simulator^TM . This free tool shows you the exact impact you can affect on your bottom-line via improvements in key strategic areas. Check it out here: (https://streetsmartsmba.pro/simulator)

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