“CREATIVITY IS JUST CONNECTING THINGS”
—Steve Jobs
The downtown blocks of Dalhousie, Murray, and Richmond work because they are compact, historic, and genuinely used. Today Amherstburg’s hottest downtown block is definitely Richmond Street, running 299 feet from Ramsay to Dalhousie. In heritage terms, it is referred to as a “high street”—the generic term for a British/Canadian shopping street.
The Richmond block has long had popular shops (two being A La Mode and Musicland), but it has recently ramped up with SEVEN new shops, all additive to the town’s retail mix with fresh ideas, being independent (not corporate), and with high end design.
Amherstburg has always attracted tourists due to its beautiful river location and its heritage, but now with new unique stores, many more tourists are coming here to shop! Here are the excellent seven. It should also be noted that all seven shops plus A La Mode and Musicland fully support Open Air!
Pictured above: River Bookshop, created to educate, engage, inspire, and entertain.
Due to the replacement of an old sewer, Richmond Street will be torn up for 5+ months next year. This will be very very tough on the local businesses. But while it will be a challenging / disruptive fix, it is also represents an huge opportunity to make the street even better. So in the spirt of Rahm Emanuel, here is our advice to the town:
“Never let a serious crisis go to waste.”
The new design should prioritize people over cars: wider sidewalks, more benches, planted trees, traffic calming techniques (crosswalk at Richmond and Ramsay) and, please, a 20 km speed limit. ALL these ideas are clear best practices supported by data and the best urbanists in the world.
STAY TUNED FOR NEXT WEEK'S WMAG
Being located beside a heritage river has positively impacted Amherstburg for years. Learn more about the Detroit River and its impact next week.
Our first Silent Book Club was a hit, and now we're doing it again! On Friday, May 22nd, from 6 to 8PM, join us for some quiet reading.
Never heard of Silent Book Club? It's basically introvert happy hour! Silent Book Club is a global community of readers with 2,000 chapters in 60+ countries. There's no assigned reading — it's bring your own book. More than a million members gather in person, online, and in destinations around the world to read together and swap stories. All readers are welcome!
And now, you can participate in Amherstburg at River Bookshop.
6:00-6:30pm - Arrive, shop, share what you're reading
6:30-7:30pm - Quiet reading hour
7:30-8:00pm - Optional socializing, or just keep reading
Join us to do some of your own reading and connect with other readers in the area. We'll have refreshments and a book fair table with discounts for Silent Book Club participants. Hope to see you there! Click here to reserve your spot!
BEES AND SPRINGTIME STORY TIME
Spring is here and the trees are bursting with green leaves and spring flowers. Bee season is coming soon!
This week at Story Time, Educator Ina Berard joins us to share stories and her knowledge about Bees in the Springtime. Come join all the Buzz at Story Time at River Bookshop, every Sunday at 11AM.
The fourth annual Art Crawl will be July 11 & 12th
The growth in the Arts has been a significant contributor to the popularity and livability of Amherstburg. The nonprofit Art Amherstburg Society is deep into planning to make this year’s Art Crawl another creative success.
Check out ArtAmherstburg.ca to learn about:
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Important sponsors like EverJonge Homes who make it possible. All events are are FREE to attend. -
Artists who are booked to create and unveil new murals that will add to Amherstburg’s 60+ art installations
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The first Plein Air contest … with $2000 in prizes on Saturday
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The Kids Art Contest, which is back again! Winners’ works displayed in Art Alley.
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Art Bash at Hotel STRY Saturday night
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Jr Art Crawl in Art Alley Sunday
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Local authors Saturday and Sunday
Be sure to mark the dates in your calendar!
Last weekend we welcomed Dr. Beth to Story Time to read stories about Furry Friends, and we had so much fun! Huge thanks to Beth Cozens and her furry friends for making Story Time so special.
So much to see and do in Amherstburg!
We hope to see you downtown this weekend.
The River Bookshop Team