About Jennifer Hughes
Ottawa City Editor Jennifer Hughes has an ongoing love affair with design, art, fashion and food that began many years ago with redecorating her dollhouse or staging impromptu Barbie fashion shows. Now she unearths the best of the above in our vibrant capital city.
Win a Glebe Shopping Spree
capital city scene: glebe love ottawa, canada
(Dec.07.11)
It was a long, hard six months. But after an entire summer and most of the fall, Bank St. in the Glebe is open again and ready for business. Although the stretch of sidewalk remained open to pedestrians throughout the construction, the street closure made access difficult and I’ll admit that I only hit this ’hood once or twice during that time, making a quick escape from the noise and mess.
So I was happy to see the shops and restaurants I love thriving once again a recent visit, with a few new businesses having opened in the meantime. To celebrate the reopening of Bank St. and encourage some local shopping, the clever folks at the Glebe BIA have come up with a shopping incentive this holiday. It’s called the Glebe-Spree Passport, and it’s easy to participate. Simply pick up a passport at any of the shops along Bank in the Glebe. Every time you spend $20 or more at any of the participating businesses, get a stamp. Collect 10 stamps and the passport page becomes a ballot that you can enter to win a $10,000 shopping spree at the stores listed in the Passport. What’s not to love about that?
A handful of new businesses that caught my eye last week:
A bigger, new Bank St. (783 Bank St.) location for gorgeous flower shop Bloomfields, which was previously tucked around the corner in a smaller store on Fourth Ave. (Watch for more details soon.)
A new clothing and shoe store called Delilah (791 Bank St.). It’s impossible to miss the brightly painted floral exterior. I’ll be checking this place out in more detail as well, and will be sure to report what I find.
Marble Slab Creamery has opened its first Ottawa location at 773 Bank St. I am a true believer in the fact that ice cream season lasts all year round, but if a cone isn’t your thing in December, they have some delicious-looking ice cream cakes in seasonal flavours.
There are so many other fantastic shops and eateries along this stretch. Many of them are favourites of mine (I’m looking at you, The Flour Shoppe) and I’m so glad they’re easy to access again. See you on Bank!