The pedestrian mall in downtown St. John’s has been praised by many since its inception last summer, but one downtown businessman says this year’s version has pushed his company to the brink.

Peter Steele is the managing director of the Sword ‘N’ Steele on Duckworth Street, a specialty business that has been in operation for almost 28 years.

According to Steele, his store focuses on tabletop gaming and the painting of miniatures: he describes it as a very niche market, noting that only 1 out of 100 people would be interested in what he’s selling.

This year, Duckworth Street has been included in the pedestrian mall. Steele, who was never in favour of that, says this year’s setup is putting more negative impacts on top of over a year of financial uncertainty.

For instance, he says the barricades make it seem like the street is closed rather than part of the mall. He describes the scene on the street as “desolate” with very few people checking things out.

As well, he says his regular customers now have to park far away if they want to drop in, and for those who do they are buying less because they can’t easily get it to their cars.

If things continue as they are, Steele points to a dire conclusion: Possible bankruptcy. He says the pedestrian mall has been worse on them than the COVID lockdowns because during those they could offer curbside pickup to customers.