The signage on the fence shows a Bussin proposed in the building. I haven’t been to Bussin yet, but if that’s truly what’s going in, there will be Boogies, Bussin, Meltwich, and Sammies all within throwing distance of that intersection. Seems redundant.
People like sandwiches - plus there's segmentation here. You forgot Chachis that just opened as well:
- Sammies: contemporary and fancier. Brunch not burger focused.
- Boogies: local chain, burger focus. Old school casual.
- Meltwich: lower price fast-food, national chain with dozens of locations.
- Bussin: vibe burgers, newest entrant I don't know anything about.
- Chachi's: downtown corporate food court chain for those that want their +15 network sandwiches but work-from-home now.
A rant on sandwich clusters and the evolution of Marda Loop:
Clustering, diversity and segmentation are the by-product of a retail area hitting critical mass. The Marda Loop cluster is starting to hit that point where it's self-sustaining - if you were to open a sandwich shop in the inner SW/West of Calgary, where else would you open it? Despite some level of existing competition, Marda Loop still jumps out as a leading candidate as it's where the action is and a definable, growing existing market. This is why agglomerations are so resilient - once they are triggered, even if it costs more and comes with headaches (congestion, competition) it's usually worth locating in a cluster than away from one because all other options are riskier. You could have a sandwich shop elsewhere randomly - but people and activity aren't spread randomly so you are taking a risk.
From an inner SW/West Calgary perspective (i.e. the box between the River and Glenmore Trail; Sarcee and 14 Street SW), I don't think the local retail market has a competitor to Marda Loop's growing cluster, nor one that is growing faster. Marda Loop is transitioning to attract substantial traffic from outside the community as well - turning a smaller local cluster into something a bit broader, with more depth of offerings. I'd go as far to say that Marda Loop is creating a new retail "scene" - where there's starting to be lots of stuff to eat and hang out at all in one area where there really wasn't much interesting going on before.
Part of the success of Marda Loop is that everything else nearby is pretty meh from a retail perspective - outside the city centre, inner SW/West Calgary is strip malls every kilometre or two with maybe 1 or 2 food places maximum. It's not always offensively car-oriented, nor is the food options particularly lacking or poor quality, but it all sums up to pretty low-density, standard strip mall stuff that doesn't attract much energy or attention. The only location I can think of that is kind of similar to Marda Loop (if you squint) from a retail potential pint of view is that restaurants clustered along 17th Avenue SW near Westbrook. But even that is much smaller, has no real vibe or definition as a distinct place (yet). A bunch of sizeable developments are in the pipeline here so it'll be a promising area to watch. Until then, it's really only the Marda Loop Show in the area.
Three things that Marda Loop needs to take the next step in it's evolution as a retail scene:
- Tame the cars and noise so patios can be a thing - there's plenty of almost good patio spots, but no great ones. All are undermined by an excessive population of fast SUVs ripping around in all directions, at all times.
- Add some street streets and actual sidewalks like it's an urban place.
- More non-generic spots - thinking like those Leonard Group infills but more notable; or any non-chain restaurant/café/bar/patio/bakery that becomes well known as achieving something above the average (e.g. food quality, nightlife, music, killer patio vibes - whatever). Every great scene needs an institution; Marda Loop doesn't have any yet.
The main streets project to upgrade the public realm will address some of what's missing, but will take some more innovation and private development / retailer focus to really get Marda Loop to the next level.
