Verdun café closing sparks calls for commercial lease reform in Quebec

Station W in Verdun is closing after the rent was hiked by 60 per cent.

After 13 years in business, Station W, a long-standing coffee shop on Wellington Street, is set to close next month.

The announcement comes after its owner, Simon Defoy, faced a rent increase of 60 per cent and lost his lease to another tenant.

He said the closure is a reflection of a broader issue affecting independent businesses across Montreal’s commercial streets. It’s why he is calling for Quebec to regulate commercial leases and address what he described as an unbalanced system allowing small businesses to be pushed out.

“Because who will be able to pay these rising rent prices? Probably only big chains,” said Defoy. “Small independent businesses are the colour of our commercial streets — the real colour of our neighbourhoods.”

If current trends continue, he warned that the character of neighbourhood commercial life could shift dramatically.

Defoy pointed to the imbalance between landlords and business owners, arguing that current commercial leasing conditions leave little stability for entrepreneurs trying to build long-term roots.

“There’s a balance of power that isn’t fair,” he said. “We need regulation to get something that brings a bit more stability and predictability.”

A street built by small businesses

At the merchants’ association for the street, the SDC Wellington, executive director Patrick Mainville said Station W helped shape the identity of Wellington Street.

He said the closure reflected a growing reality he had seen more frequently in recent years, where even well-established and well-loved businesses were struggling to absorb rising rents.

“It hurts us because we all get very attached to our local businesses,” Mainville said. “[Station W] is part of the businesses that started that vitality on this street.”

Mainville added that independent commerce played a central role in shaping neighbourhood identity, not only economically but socially as well.

“It’s more than a café,” he said. “When you start a business on a commercial street like this, it has an effect on the community and on the DNA of the street.”

He said the issue underscored the need for broader change to commercial leases, and called for dialogue between landlords, business owners, governments and the wider community.

Calls for regulation

The question of commercial lease regulation has been raised before in Quebec City.

First in 2021, and again in 2023, Québec Solidaire proposed the creation of a standardized commercial lease framework aimed at reducing abusive clauses, similar to protections already in place for residential tenants, as well as the creation of a province-wide register of commercial leases.

Verdun MNA Alejandra Zaga Mendez described the closure of Station W as a “complete injustice,” saying it highlighted structural gaps in the current system.

“We need regulations to support our small businesses, because otherwise, they are going to be leaving streets such as Wellington, and they are the heart of the economic development,” she said, noting her intention to continue pushing for this change.

13 years... and counting

For many longtime customers, the closure represents the disappearance of a space that had become part of their routines and memories over the years.

Even after moving to another neighbourhood, Jessica Bleuer said she still drops by Station W whenever possible.

“I used to live in Verdun, so I would come here daily,” she said. “I finished my dissertation here; I did all of my pregnancy cravings here.”

Verdun resident Wolfgang Krotter said he has been visiting since the coffee shop first opened.

“It had a very vintage kind of vibe,” he said. “There was a big black table where ten people could sit around; I used to read my newspaper at it, and it was quite nice meeting and talking to people there.”

For Defoy, the closure marked the end of a chapter defined as much by community as by commerce.

“When you’re a small business owner, or a corner store owner, you become part of people’s lives — and they are part of yours,” he said, noting the special bond also built with fellow entrepreneurs in the area.

While Station W is set to close its Verdun space in the coming weeks, Defoy said there is a plan in the works to bring a pop-up concept at least for this summer.