Paddington Station in Brunswick Square. Image: Cherise Letson/Huddle Today
A Saint John children’s toy and clothing store is moving to a bigger street-front location in the city’s uptown next month.
Paddington Station will be leaving its long-time home in Brunswick Square to move to nearby 36 Canterbury Street, the former home of the Buckland Merrifield Gallery, which is moving to a new location.
The store got its start in 1996 as a cart outside the Saint John City Market. The shop soon has its own stall inside the market, and then moved into Brunswick Square in 2004. Paddington Station has been on several floors in the mall but has been at its second-level location since 2015. Owner Clare Smith says her long-term vision for the store was to eventually have a street-front location.
“The opportunity presented itself. We wanted to grow this business and the opportunity for growth was there,” says Smith. “It’s always been in the back of mind.”
The new location at 36 Canterbury Street is beside Pomodori Pizza and Picaroons, in a former car-park that was re-purposed and renovated by Historica Developments several years back.
“Our new store will have an urban feel to it,” says Smith.
The new, bigger location will allow Paddington Station to expand some of its product lines and create a new “reading room” for kids.
“We have some exciting plans,” says Smith. “One of the things we’re going to do is have a room in the back that’s going to be a reading room for kids. We want to bring in some authors.”
Paddington Station will be closing in Brunswick Square at the end of the month. The plan is to open the new Canterbury Street location a few weeks into February. Smith says having a brick-and-mortar location allows businesses to be more creative and flexible than being based in a traditional mall. Things like later business hours, or having furry friends visit are just some examples.
“For instance, my puppy is going to be in the store,” says Smith. “For me, a storefront just gives me the opportunity to do all the things I always wanted to do. Malls are wonderful, and this mall has been great. We’ve really grown here. But I think it just gives us the opportunity to do things a little bit differently.”
Paddington Station will be the third business in recent months to leave Brunswick Square. Lolë and Bentley closed down their stores in the mall in December. But for Smith, the move isn’t because business is bad, or that there’s no longer a market in the city’s uptown, it’s about growing in it even more.
“I’ve been a long-time uptown resident and it’s always been my vision to open a brick-and-mortar store in the uptown core and to reinvest into the community,” she says.
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an online business news publication based in Saint John. Huddle is an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
