Tough times for Plateau merchants continue as small brewpub chain Brasseur de Montréal announced this week that it was done on Saint-Denis, corner Duluth, in the former Le Continental bistro. The Plateau-Mont-Royal borough had refused to issue the establishment a bar licence, due to its proximity to other bars, and this, co-owner Denise Mérineau told Métro, affected the potential profitability of the microbrewery.
"We were very happy to open an establishment in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. Namely as a way to reach new customers. There is a quota for bars on the street, but we thought we could successfully get the exemption," Mérineau professed. Alas, numerous promotional efforts did not persuade patrons to frequent the business with sufficient regularity.
"We were doing a promo for a pint and a meal for ten dollars and even then it was not enough. We only had volume on Fridays and Saturdays, and the rest of the time, it was dead. We reached the end of our rope. We thought we could rebound in the summer, but there were not many tourists on Saint-Denis. With all the construction work in the fall, we had no choice but to close." Two other Brasseur de Montréal outlets, at Gare Viger and on Ottawa street in Griffintown, remain open.