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The Khazana on Windermere Boulevard. (Courtesy: Facebook\/Khazana Restaurant)<\/p>\nAnother downtown Edmonton business is closing its doors for good.<\/p>\n
Greta, known for its arcade games and Edmonton Oilers watch parties, is the latest to go out of business.<\/p>\n
Chris Decock, the president of the Greta franchise, says he\u2019s shutting it down because of what he calls a lack of access and foot traffic, blaming construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to say to yourself, \u2018OK, we\u2019ve been we\u2019ve been kind of hanging on here. Are we going to try and do that for another two, three years?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Because Greta has other locations throughout Canada \u2013 Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver \u2014 Decock offered some comparatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreta in Calgary downtown does three-and-a-half times the revenue that we do in Edmonton. Three-and-a-half times. The city isn\u2019t three-and-a-half times bigger, and there\u2019s way more competition in Calgary than there is in Edmonton,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Class-action lawsuit? <\/p>\n
Decock says something has to change with the city\u2019s downtown. Because Greta is hardly alone.<\/p>\n
Restaurants PlayWright, Kommune Caf\u00e9, and Khazana all cited construction as partly to blame for shuttering their doors.<\/p>\n
Now the former owner of Khazana is looking at what she can do in court, speaking to lawyers and other businesses about a possible class-action lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t really have any other choice,\u201d said Mehaik Bhasin. \u201cWe reached out to the city so many times. We didn\u2019t want to go this way. We were OK if you said \u2018shut down for six months, we will give you a compensation for those six months, reopen once the construction\u2019s done, or however many long.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not willing to do anything. So now we need to get your attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Khazana on Windermere Boulevard. (Courtesy: Facebook\/Khazana Restaurant)<\/p>\n
While Bhasin understands major projects like the LRT expansion will benefit the community for decades to come, she says there hasn\u2019t been any relief for businesses suffering through multi-year projects. She believes the city isn\u2019t doing enough to support them during heavy construction.<\/p>\n
In a statement, a spokesperson for the City of Edmonton says the city does notify businesses of major projects that will cause disruptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the temporary disruptions may be challenging, these projects are a direct investment in the future of the city and will provide smoother commutes, safer streets, and vibrant commercial and community hubs that will serve Edmontonians for decades to come,\u201d said Bin Pllana, the downtown integration manager with the City of Edmonton\u2019s infrastructure services.<\/p>\n
A professor at the Alberta School of Business, the University of Alberta\u2019s business school, says \u201cdowntown has been abandoned by Edmontonians, to some extent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe foot traffic isn\u2019t there,\u201d said Murtaza Haider.<\/p>\n
City council has explored paying businesses hit with multi-year construction, but Haider says it still might not be enough to fix the lack of people visiting the area in the long term, partly due to a perception of poor public safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just one restaurant,\u201d Haider said. \u201cYou can go at lunchtime to any place, and you will see that hardly anybody is there at the lunch. So the lunch hour revenue is almost down to nil.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Greta-Edmonton--e1784646581600.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tGreta is closing its downtown Edmonton location, citing construction woes. (CityNews) <\/p>\n
\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n
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